Shiki: A new NIGHTMARE
by Sentaifan101
Summary: After being sealed away in Hell by Siegfried for 400 years, Soul Edge returns. This time, It is shipped to Japan to be put on Display. Unfortunately, the Vile NIGHTMARE has other plans. I own neither "Shiki" nor "Soul Calibur"—the only thing I own are the rights to the OC. Rated M for Violence, Language, and Lemons. Up for adoption.
1. Prologue

Centuries ago, a powerful blade was forged to be the ultimate weapon— **Soul Edge**. Not everyone could wield it's might, but those who could proved unstoppable. However, after so many years of battle, the demonic flesh the sword was made of caused a fire to be born within it. This fire manifested into a sinister demon called **Inferno**. His intention was to create Armageddon, and spread chaos and darkness across the world. In order to do so, **Inferno** needed a mortal body to create an azure clad knight, named... **Nightmare**.

* * *

 **Inferno's Point of View**

Finally!

After centuries of being locked away, I have finally freed myself from my fiery tomb.

But I am limited to my Astral form—If I am to resume sending the world into Chaos, I must find a new body...but who?

I cannot move, I have to wait for a mortal simpleton to come close to me, and tempt them with my power.

Yeeesss, but how long will it be?

* * *

 **Narrator**

The Dreadful demonic sword, **Soul Edge** , had broken free and intended to resume what it had started five-hundred years ago. Luckily, for Earth, it was once again broken, and left incomplete. **Soul Edge** and the demonic entity it was, **Inferno** had to start over again—after he had come so close, his progress was wasted.

Only one sword is able to permanently end the evil of **Inferno** —a holy sword crafted from its own final fragment, **Soul Calibur**. But who would wield the might of said weapon?

That is where our story begins.


	2. Introduction to the New Hope

**? Point of View**

Japan, a new area, for a new battle ground.

After Four-Hundred years of silence, the worst possible catastrophe has reemerged from death's embrace— **Soul Edge** and it's incarnation, **Inferno**.

I, **Sir Connor de Valentine** , a wandering knight, descendant of **Siegfried** , have trained for years to finally end **Nightmare** , with the power of **Soul Calibur**.

It's not going to be easy, and I can't do it alone... but I do know the name of the area where **Soul Edge** is being housed...an isolated place called Sotoba. I will need the help of some of the locals in order to locate and destroy the vile blade.

On an related note, my Mum wants me to find a lover for myself there—at 14 years old, she constantly asks why I don't have a girlfriend.

It's complicated, I know, but I will find "the one", and put an end to **Soul Edge** forever. I know it.

* * *

 ** _Now we know who the savior is, but who will be the destroyer, known as NIGHTMARE._**

 ** _Stay tuned._**

* * *

 _ **I forgot to mention the pairings(I needed to come up with the O.C.'s name).**_

 _ **They are Natsuno x Megumi, Connor x Kaori, and Tohru x Ritsuko.**_


	3. The Discovery

**Chapter 1: The Discovery**

"Oh, look at that...", "What a fancy-looking sword...", "That thing is _big_...".

 **Soul Edge** had finally reached it's destination in Sotoba, where it was put in the village shrine.

Many thought that it was a Holy Sword. Unfortunately, they were mistaken, as the blade was in fact a Demon Sword, housing a hellish creature who thrives on the blood of Mass Murder.

* * *

 **Inferno**

Look at them all...such pathetic fools. They fail to realize who I really am. Such ignorance will be their downfall.

I can sense him...my new host body. He is here...but who is he?

* * *

 **Meanwhile,**

"So this is Sotoba..."

Connor had finally reached his destination, and was amazed by how beautiful it was.

"I can see why **Inferno** would want to start here...such flawless beauty...exactly the thing he hates."

Connor began looking for a place to stay for the time while trying not to draw attention to himself, although he was anything but subtle. If his regal, silver armor didn't give away that he was from Europe, it would certainly be his physical appearance. He was, what many would call, Handsome. With his shoulder-length, straight, white hair, sharp facial features, and Crimson, red eyes, he caught the attention of a lot of girls. He had to admit that there were a lot of promising young Women, but they all had the same problem - they were all too old for him. At the least, the youngest had to be 18 years old.

"Who is that young man?" Connor heard old ladies gossiping about him.

"I don't know, but he is very handsome...", "He's even dressed like a knight too...", "How noble..."

Having been to Isolated villages back in Europe before, he knew this was typical, but the fact that he was the focus point made him feel a little uneasy. But he Knew that he had a job to do.

* * *

 **Connor**

This is not going to be easy.

With so many villagers watching, destroying **Soul Edge** won't be as quick as I had previously anticipated...

Not to mention, I haven't found a beautiful girl _my_ age yet...

FOCUS! I have a mission to complete before anyone gets hurt, DAMMIT!

* * *

 ** _One of the Main Protagonists has been introduced, as well as the story's Main Villainous Antagonist. But what about the other main characters?_**

 ** _Stay tuned..._**

* * *

 ** _For those who say that the chapters are "TOO SHORT", keep in mind that I need suggestions in your reviews, and Information from the canon stories in order to bring out new details._**

 _ **Make sure to review, follow, or favorite my stories.**_


	4. I don't want anyone getting too close

**Chapter 2** **: I don't want anyone getting close**

Natsuno woke from yet another restless sleep. As of late he had been having nightmares, causing his sleep cycle to be a little bit spotty. They were also taking a toll on his studies. He needed to pass in order to get into a good college in the city(where he came from).

His parents decided to move to the isolated village a year ago, because they thought it would benefit their artistic inspiration. Natsuno hated it bitterly. The was nothing to do, and most of the villagers left a bad taste in his mouth—the only reason they tried to get him to speak was for gossip.

One person in particular though was extremely bothersome—Megumi Shimizu. The girl was the same age as him, and harbored a huge crush on him, ever since he came. She often stood outside his window to spy on him—nothing much, she just wanted a glimpse of him. This "stalking" behavior was the cause of his nightmares—in them, she would hover over him, and when she opened her mouth it would reveal a pair of two-inch long fangs, and draw closer and closer to his neck. But really, that was the only reason why he disliked her. He had never talked to her—in point of fact, he never actually looked at her.

* * *

 **Natsuno's Point of View:**

Damn dreams...I've just about had it with this place.

Huh? Who's that? I've never seen him before!

And why is he dressed like that? Is there a Renaissance fair going on?

* * *

"Hey!" Natsuno called out to Connor —who was heading in the same direction—, and the young knight replied, "Salutations!"

"Forgive me for not introducing myself...you can just call me Connor."

"Yuuki, or Koide...either one."

That confused Connor for a moment, but he simply shook it off.

For a while the two walked, discussing various things, until Natsuno decided to head home.

 _I have no intention of making friends...or at least, that was how it was supposed to be._ Natsuno thought to himself.

* * *

 _ **I should probably mention that I already gave Connor his personality—A Selfless, intelligent, and courageous individual, who at first is calm and collected, but willingly puts his own life at risk just to protect those he cares about.**_

 ** _In the Reviews, please tell me how he should interact with the Canon Characters(Except Nightmare because they are already sworn enemies, and polar opposites)._**


	5. I hate this village

**Chapter 3: I hate this Village**

Megumi Shimizu, almost all the guys at school had a Fanboy crush on her, including Masao Murasako—though he was a little more extreme. One might think that Megumi spying on Natsuno was creepy, but Masao did a Peeping Tom on her in the shower, before Natsuno even arrived to the village. To make matters worse, Masao couldn't stand anybody—not even his own family. But that'll be for another chapter.

It was clear as day that Megumi hated the village, and for good reason. Ever since birth, she was an unfortunate misfit—every bit, from what she wore, to the way she thought—making her the laughing stock of the entire place.

* * *

 **Megumi's Point of View:**

Who cares about Buddhist statues?! These are just plain rocks!

I hate this Village!

As you can see, there's nothing here...As much as I hate to admit it, this is where I was born.

There's not even a single clothing store around...not even a place to have a cup of tea!

Once I graduate, I'm definitely going to college in a big city! Then I'll be discovered by talent scouts! And at night, I'll hang out in clubs!

* * *

 **Connor:**

So far, I've seen no sign of **Soul Edge**. However, it is definitely here.

Wait...did I hear someone say they hated the village?

Huh...that must be the Megumi Shimizu girl the Yuuki boy told me about.

I don't get it...how can he hate someone as beautiful as her just because of a bad "Stalking" habit?

* * *

"Hey..." Megumi turned and saw a white-haired young man looking right at her, "Are you Megumi Shimizu?"

"Um...yeah." She responded in a nervous tone, "Why? How do you know my name?"

"First, tell me...do you hate every single thing in this village?"

"Actually, there are two things in this village that I care about."

"Like..."

"One is a big, European-style house, which was suddenly built on some land"

Connor turned to where Megumi was looking, and saw a huge mansion up on a hill—it looked like the ones from his home, except darker in tone, and not because of **Soul Edge**.

"It's beautiful..." She continued, "I wonder what kind of people are going to be living there."

"It looks like a place Count Dracula would call home!"

"True...but at least it's a change in this place!"

"I see..."

"The other thing is the city exchange student, Yuuki!"

 _So the Yuuki boy is from the big city..._ Connor thought to himself.

"He's so cool! It would be a dream come true if I could live with him in that big beautiful house!"

"Speaking of which, I actually met him earlier, and that's where I heard your name."

"Then you know that he must hate me, don't you?"

"Actually he didn't say anything, except that he wishes you would stop looking through his window to learn his secrets."

"He knows?!"

"What secrets do you know?"

Megumi paused for a moment, "I only do it to catch a glimpse of him. I don't know anything."

Connor reassured her, "I was personally curious! But tell me, what is his first name? It's just confusing calling him by two last names."

* * *

 _ **Sorry for the cliffhangers, I just want to build suspense.**_

 _ **There are more than what I can put in the summary to this story.**_

 _ **Genres: Horror(Dark nature made for scares), Supernatural(Demonic elements), Fantasy(Magic and Obviously the swords), Adventure(Peril), Romance(Pairings), Thriller(Action), Suspense(Buildup), Drama(Emotion), Mystery(Figuring things out).**_

 ** _Please Review, Follow, and Favorite._**


	6. A chance

**Chapter 4: A Chance**

"No more! That is it! What is wrong with these people?" Megumi's only real friend, Kaori Tanaka, to her, was nothing more than a pity friend. Just moments earlier, Kaori brought up gossip about three deaths in the same area of Sotoba, at the same time, which irritated Megumi, as it wasn't anything absolutely new. She completely lost her temper when Kaori's little brother, Akira brought up that they made the paper.

Megumi was running to no place in particular, until she turned her head to see a certain, violet-haired boy waiting for the bus, while staring off towards the City.  
"Yuuki..."

* * *

Natsuno stood by the bus stop, it would be a while before the bus came. It was very hot today, not the nice hot weather people travelled abroad to sunbathe in. Sotoba always had hot humid weather, it was stuffy and made it hard to breathe. He stood there staring at the scenery, listening to the cicada. Down the highway, behind the mountain was the city. Natsuno would occasionally have dreams about running down this same highway, he could see the tall buildings in the horizon but no matter how far he ran he could never reach that place.

"Good morning, Yuuki."

It was her again, Megumi who always said the same thing every morning on a school day. As usual Natsuno ignored Megumi, he knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"Staring off towards the city, huh? Are you feeling homesick?"

"Not _her_ again."

Natsuno could see her shadow on the road, she was leaning towards him waiting for a response but still he ignored her hoping that she would get the message this time.

"I guess you're still ignoring me, who can blame you. I mean, why talk to someone that you hate, right?"

There it was again, Megumi trying to make him feel guilty. It was as if Natsuno was wrong for hating her, but who can blame him. Megumi never left him alone. Megumi fully knew that Natsuno was aware of her stalking him, she just pretended she didn't. He had spotted her watching him in the bushes and she would quickly hide believing that he couldn't see her.

There was a pause, before Megumi said something again.

So no sign of the bus, yet?"

Megumi was still trying to get him to talk, but eventually she stayed quiet. Just when Natsuno thought she had finished she spoke again but this time more quietly.

"I can't wait to leave this village."

This surprised him, as Megumi had never said this before, and there was a slight sad tone in her voice as if she was sick and tired of something. Natsuno turned to look to see if she was upset. Megumi turned her eyes on him, she gasped then immediately smiled at him. Natsuno quickly turned his head back.

For some reason, this caused Natsuno to remember something that Connor said.

 _"You can't ignore your problems, nor can you run from them. You have to face them. That's the only way to get them to go away."_

He was right, and Natsuno decided to do something he never did before...

"I don't necessarily hate you Shimizu." _Guess it's too late to turn back now!_

Megumi instantly lit up, "Oh my god, Yuuki just spoke to me!" she was unsure of what to say.

"I'm just not here to make friends." _I'm gonna be leaving here anyway, no need to make it harder._

"Can I ask you something?" Megumi asked shyly.

"What?" Natsuno replied.

"What was the city like?"

* * *

 ** _This Chapter focuses on the improving relationship between Natsuno and Megumi(The two primary Protagonists), and is an example of how much Connor will effect the story._**

 ** _For those who were expecting a description on the city, come up with your own._**


	7. Dread

**Chapter 5: Dread**

In between classes, many guys tried asking Megumi for the time of day. One in particular she disliked more than others...Masao Murasako. Whereas Megumi only peeped on Natsuno for the past year(and just to get a brief glimpse of him), and—now that he spoke to her—had become a dropped habit, Masao has been pervertedly stalking her since they were children, and it only got worse.

Natsuno was quite a bit different—almost every girl in school hated him because of how cold he seemed. Megumi, however, was able to see underneath the cold exterior.  
Masao noticed this since the first time Megumi tried to speak to him—he already disliked Natsuno for being from the city, but the fact that Megumi liked him instead caused Masao's hatred towards Natsuno to grow.

It only got worse when Natsuno finally spoke to Megumi—Masao started gritting his teeth in anger just by hearing about it.

* * *

 **Masao's Point of View:**

Damn you...

What does Shimizu see in that City boy that I don't have?

I just don't understand...

* * *

 **Inferno:**

I sense...Hatred...extreme hatred. I have never seen hatred "this" powerful!

I must find out where this power is coming from(Who is generating it?)!

* * *

Even from all the way in the shrine, **Inferno** could already sense a dark aura like no other(the aura of one whose heart is filled with selfish desires, and hatred—in other words, a heart filled with PURE EVIL)in a distant part of Sotoba—the power of it could be sensed on the other side of the sea. Every second, this power was slowly increasing, as if someone had a serious grudge.

But who was it? All he knew was that this was the one he was looking for.

* * *

 _ **Just a hint chapter, of course it's short!**_

 _ **This "was" supposed to be a chapter for Masao's past, but I decided that it should be saved for later.**_

 _ **Please Follow, Favorite, and/or Review.**_


	8. Dream house

**Chapter 6: Dream House**

Two days later:

The villagers had been gossiping more than usual - the owners of the new mansion just moved in last night...late at night. This all came from Tae Yano, and her daughter, Kanami, who were woken up by the headlights, and honking of the moving truck.  
Megumi was in awe—she was actually going to meet the newcomers of the mansion everyone referred to as "Kanemasa". Over the past three days, she had been getting to know Natsuno better—she was at least in the "Friend Zone" with him. She still liked him more than that, but she didn't want to rush.  
"Megumi!", Kaori was walking her family dog, Love, when she stumbled across Megumi. "Love, heal!" the dog was practically dragging the girl. "Oh, the new owners just arrived. A couple and their daughter..." She was stopped by Megumi. "They have...a daughter?"  
"Just a year younger than us...I just happened to hear the old ladies discussing, of course I wasn't really interested..."  
"Aren't you curious?"

* * *

Later:  
"Stupid, so Stupid!" Megumi said to herself. She and Kaori had an argument earlier, which started off only about the mansion, but soon landed into the subject of Megumi talking to Natsuno. "I hate this village! I hate it! Hate! It!"  
She had reached the house, and immediately felt she was attracting someone's attention. _Someone's watching me..._ She thought to herself. She didn't know whether to feel embarrassed, excited, or scared. _They saw me!_

 _That's right! Now I can show off the fruits of my labor! I've been practicing walking like a model!_

She began walking in an awkward fashion—one foot in front of the other. As soon as she reached her third step, her ankle bent inwards too far, causing her to yelp in pain and collapse onto her knees. "Oww! That really hurt!"

"Shimizu?!", a familiar voice said. Megumi turned and saw both Natsuno and Connor were right there. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"The family just moved in!" She responded, before thinking, _Oh, crap!_ , when she looked back to her ankle.

"What happened?" Connor asked, concerned about her, and then saw that she sprained her ankle, "Nothing, nothing at all?" she tried to hide the pain.

The gigantic, golden gate opened up afterwards.

"If anyone asks, we're cousins." Megumi stated to Connor.

* * *

"My my! is your girlfriend hurt sir? I could hear her shouts even from inside these walls." said the man who came out. Megumi had stars in her eyes at the sound of that comment—not only was she meeting the man who owned the castle she so adored, but he acknowledged the truth of her affections as well.

"She-she's not my girlfriend, we just decided to look at the mansion when we heard that the owners moved in today, and she fell so we helped her up!" Natsuno was sternly saying, while Connor was sweating solid gold bullets, and Megumi looked dissapointed when he said that.

There was a short pause and the man finally said" I'm terribly sorry for assuming something different, but it is quite amiable of you to help a young girl in need... She lookes a bit scoffed" the man noticed a small cut on Megumi's knee "If you so desire you may come in to my home, I'll have my servant here patch you up. Hahaha" The man had a hearty chuckle...one you would expect someone of wealth to own.

"We didn't catch your name." Natsuno said, he had a cautious look on his face, in the city people would not invite others in so readily. He was slightly taken back but decided to shrug it off against his better nature—it was the same thing for Connor.

"Ah yes, my name is Seishiro Kirishiki. The man next to me is my servant Tatsumi".

"How's it goin'?" Tatsumi asked in an overly friendly way.

"Wow! We would so love to come in and look at such a beautiful mansion!" Megumi was ecstatic! She had always loved that place ever since it was built, but never in her wildest dreams did she think she would get to go inside "Come on Yuuki! You too Connor!"

"But I-I...sure...whatever...hehe?!" Connor laughed nervosly. He and Natsuno were reluctant to go into the home of a man they just met, but Megumi's cheerful presence put them at ease. So Seishiro led them inside.

* * *

"Well you three, have a seat. Tatsumi, fetch us some tea and a bandage for the young lady here."

"Right away sir!" Tatsumi answered in the same overly friendly fashion

"So, is it just you and Tatsumi here?" Natsuno asked.

"This seems like an awfully big place for just one man." Connor added, he was still very nervous.

"My, heavens no, I have a wife and a daughter. They have a rare medical condition where they aren't supposed to go out during the day, so they are asleep right now!" Seishiro seemed to look to Tatsumi for approval...at least Natsuno thought so, but it was a fleeting look so he could not be sure. Megumi didn't notice, she was totally oblivious—there were far to many distractions for her(she was sitting next to the object of her affection, in the house of her dreams)—she may as well have been foaming at the mouth and passing out, she was so excited.

* * *

"Well it's getting late, Shimizu and I had better get out of here." Natsuno said, the sun was setting in the sky "I'm sure our parents are worried about us! Same with you Connor!"

"Aw I don't care about them Yuuki, I want to stay a bit longer!" Megumi pleaded.

"I came to the village alone." Connor stated.

"Why my family should be able to come out now, You Simply must meet them before you go!" Seshiro seemed to put importance on that. "Ah here they come now!" A tall beautiful woman and a little girl walked into the room. They had pale skin and dark eyes...Natsuno thought something was just a bit off about them—Connor knew something was off, but no one could tell.

"This is my wife, Chizuru, and my daughter Sunako!" Seishiro introduced them excitedly.

"Salutations!

"How do you do?" the little girl asked politely to Connor.

"We do fine, thank you." Connor said back...politely as ever, as he grabbed her hand to kiss it. When doing so, however, he noticed something—her hand...it was...cold...cold as death.

"Oh my gosh! You are simply the most beautiful girl I've ever seen...next to me of course! Hahaha!" Connor snapped out of his concentration. The woman took Megumi's hand and held it close. "What beautiful nails, you just HAVE to tell me who does them for you"

"Oh wow! Do you think so?" Megumi was drowning in pleasure from the Woman's compliments. Sunako moved closer to Connor. The woman was about to kiss Megumi's hand, but Natsuno noticed something strange...

"Are those...Fangs?!" without thinking Natsuno closed the gap and grabbed Megumi's hand away. "Sorry, but we have to go now!"

"I apologize, but my friend is right."

* * *

 _ **The Longest chapter so far.**_

 ** _Stay tuned for more._**


	9. Death too early

**Chapter 7: Death too early**

The following day:

Megumi was still curious about Kanemasa, though this reason was different. She noticed that Chizuru's hand was cold...cold as ice. She thought that it was because of the rare medical condition she had, according to her husband. But she noticed something else...something that shouldn't be real. Fangs...she didn't know if she imagined them or not, but she wanted to find out, despite what Natsuno said to her—"Let me know when you think about going back to that house, I want to know more about those people."

Like yesterday, when she stood in front of the gate, it opened.

* * *

Several hours later:

"Kaori. Did you see Megumi today?" Kaori's mother received a phone call from Megumi's parents.

"I met her in front of the gate when I took Love out for a walk." She responded, not wanting to bring up their argument. "Her mother said she hasn't come home." Kaori was surprised—even though Megumi hated the village, she always returned home—"What? Megumi is missing?" Akira couldn't help but blurt out. "Don't be stupid! She's just a little late!"

"But, look at the time!"

Word of Megumi's disappearance spread quickly(as rumors in small villages do), even Old man Ookawa heard, and he took **nothing** lightly. "What was that!?" He was yelling into the phone, "Shimizu's daughter went missing in the direction of the mountain!?"

"Atushi, let's get going!" He yelled for his son.

"Do I have to go too?" He was in his 30s and was still scared of his father. "Isn't Shimizu the one from lower Sotoba? Shouldn't we leave this to lower Sotoba's fire department..." his father punched him in the face(Not the first time, and certainly wouldn't be the last), "Let's go on a mountain hunt!"

Everyone was searching the area for any sign of Megumi. No luck. Even Natsuno noticed that she didn't call him to check on him like she normally did for the past three days. He walked out of his room to find his father about to leave. "What's going on?" he asked. His father responded, "Shimizu's daughter went missing!" Natsuno became concerned when he said this, _Is that why she hasn't called today?_ he wondered to himself. He knew her well enough to consider her a friend, and as her friend, he had to search as well, so he grabbed a flashlight and went with his father. "Wait, I'm coming too!"

Past midnight:

"I found her!" Natsuno yelled out to the others. Megumi was laying unconsciously on the ground, her neck had what appeared to be two insect bites.

* * *

Later that day:

"Thank you so much for coming on such short notice Doctor Ozaki!" Megumi's parents were scared for their daughter's health, "She won't eat at all, she just stares blankly into space!"

"Megumi, it's Ozaki." The village doctor spoke softly, "Your parents said you haven't eaten anything. What's wrong with your appetite?" She didn't answer. He checked her heartbeat with his Stethoscope, and recognized some of the symptoms. "She doesn't have a fever, and apart from some insect bites, there are no signs of external injury. Her pulse is a little fast. Blood pressure is considerably lower than normal." He said to her parents, "It's anemia, but apart from that, nothing out of the ordinary. She might recover in a couple days. As a precaution, I'd better take a blood sample for a test."

Just as Dr. Ozaki finished taking the sample, Megumi spoke softly, "Sleepy." he was surprised as anyone before she spoke again, "So sleepy."

Meanwhile:

Natsuno was confused about why he went searching for Megumi in the first place. As far as he was concerned, he would've been better off without her. _I hardly even know Shimizu._ He stopped wondering, and continued studying - It was best not to think about her(For an unknown reason, her father banned him from seeing her).

* * *

Megumi only got worse the next day - Her skin was starting to shrivel up, as if she was drying out.

Kaori came to visit her and noticed. _Kaori_ _, I'm sorry for not listening to you._ Megumi thought to herself. "Megumi, here's something wonderful! I was totally shocked!" her friend said excitedly, "I met the lady from that mansion!"

"She's incredible. She's so stylish, like an actress! I was only in a T-shirt so I felt a little embarrassed!"

"I know..." Megumi responded softly, "What a beautiful person...very..." _She's not normal. Something's unnatural._ she thought to herself, _Her hand...it was as cold as ice...and...she had fangs!_

* * *

Dawn:

The phone rang in Dr. Ozaki's clinic. "This is Ozaki." The doctor had just woken up, when the shocking news came to him, "WHAT!?"

Megumi was dead. Everyone heard about it, and was shocked at how sudden and unexpected it was, even Natsuno. "Shimizu's...dead!?"

* * *

 **Connor:**

Dammit!

Was this the doing of **Inferno**?

Is my ignorance what caused this?

* * *

Wrapped with grief over the death of one of his first friends, Connor's resolve to find and destroy **Soul Edge** only strengthened.


	10. Shocking News

**Chapter 8: Shocking News**

Everyone in Sotoba was in shock from what just happened. Megumi Shimizu—age 14—died from erratic heart failure. The people most shocked were her parents, Kaori, Natsuno, Connor, and Dr. Ozaki.

* * *

 **Ozaki's Point of View:**

It appeared as anemia, how could this have happened!?

Why couldn't I see it? What was it that I missed?

* * *

 **Kaori's Point of View:**

Megumi...*sniffle*...it wasn't your time...

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

Shimizu's dead?

It must have something to do with those people...

Wait, why am I worried about it? I wasn't very close to her.

Still, it feels like...I...lost a...part...of myself.

* * *

 **Inferno:**

What is this? Why are all these mortals mourning? Where's the hatred...the anger...the **_BLOOD_**...the DEATH?

Wait...this scent...this is the scent of... **VAMPIRES**!

There is death in this village...but not permanent death.

What are this one's origins?

Female...Young...exotic...loving?!

This creature is not the one I seek!

* * *

 **Connor:**

Was I imagining the feelings? No...that coldness was real...as was the lack of...a pulse.

That little girl also...acted...older than she should be.

These factors plus the eyes and the fact that Seishiro told us they only come out at night due to a "rare medical condition"?!

There's no such thing...they...they are...vampires.

...It might be best to keep this to myself for now. I don't know if anyone else here believes in such things. Besides, there's something far more dangerous, and much more terrifying than the undead that I have to deal with... **Soul Edge**.

* * *

 _ **This Chapter deals with showing multiple points of view from the various protagonists, and the Antagonist as well. This is a short chapter for sure, DEAL WITH IT!**_


	11. Resurrection

**Chapter 9: Resurrection**

Kaori felt horrible guilt just tearing at her soul, nonstop. She had just lost her childhood friend to acute heart failure(According to Dr. Ozaki), apparently caused by Anemia. Megumi was the person in Sotoba who died at the youngest age so far, much to the shock of every other villager.

There was, however, unusual, which no one noticed—Megumi's soul never left her body. She could still hear, and still think, despite being dead. She had become an Okiagari—an undead individual.

"Megumi I'm sorry!" a soft, tearful voice said, and Megumi immediately recognized it.

 _Kaori!? Wait...I can still hear you?_ Megumi's conscious had heard her. _But this can't be possible...I died...how can I still hear?_ It was all so confusing to her—she was dead, and yet her conscious was still alive, and listening.

"The poor Shimizus, how will they deal with this?"

"This is all so unexpected..."

 _It's true, my life is over._

"I guess I feel kinda guilty for this." Another familiar voice was heard, _Yuuki...he came. I guess I should've listened to what you and Kaori said._ she thought to herself.

* * *

Later, nighttime

Megumi's eyes opened, to her surprise, as she found herself inside a strange wooden box. She could immediately tell it was a coffin just by reading a plaque at her face - "In loving memory of Megumi Shimizu" - which only confused her even more. Even more confusing was that it should've been pitch black, and yet she could see perfectly clear. Was she still alive, or was she something else? Though the coffin hardly had any space, she was able to move her hand to where her heart was - nothing, no heartbeat. Megumi was beginning to feel terrified - she knew she had died, and yet here she was, able to see, hear, and feel as if she was still alive.

Megumi wanted to scream, but she couldn't...her lungs weren't working - she wasn't even breathing. She was frightened to find herself alive, but not even breathing. The surprises were only getting started, however.

She heard something—the sound of scraping. Someone was digging her grave. Was it a grave robber? There was no telling. She couldn't see through the coffin, and even if she could there would still be dirt in the way. Megumi's stomach was in knots at this point. She didn't know who was digging her grave and why—she wouldn't even know how they would react to a living corpse. Suddenly, the lid of the coffin was ripped off, and the one who was digging was someone from Kanemasa—a young man in his twenties at least, with blue hair and yellow eyes. For a moment, she thought he would run off screaming—what he actually did was something unexpected. "Hi-ya!" He said, smiling.

 _What the fuck is 'he' doing here?_ she wondered. She tried asking him, but nothing came out of her mouth.

* * *

Over at the Yuuki house...

 _What a load of crap._ Natsuno thought to himself, _she was just like every other villager, expecting something I was assigned. She was nothing more than a Love-sick puppy, expecting me to return her feelings._

No matter how much he tried denying it, Natsuno felt as if something was missing from his life after Megumi's death. Did he like her and just didn't know it, or was there something else at work? There was no telling.

* * *

The pinkette looked around curiously. She wasn't inside the Kanemasa mansion, the one the Kirishiki had claimed theirs, but somewhere else. It looked like another mansion by its' size (they had gone through so many hallways that she already felt lost), but it didn't seem like the same style. More rural, and antique...More like the rest of the town.

When they finally stopped, it took her a moment to rememeber how he had told her to talk earlier. Fortunately, she was able to recall it correctly, and then she proceeded to talk as if she still breathed normally.

"Where are we?" asked Megumi, as her mysterious companion turned around to face her.

"You can already talk normally(That was fast)" he said, taken aback a little. "I knew I was right about you. You're different from the others."

Megumi's face lit up slightly. Not because he had said it, but because of the words he had said. Different from the others. She had always felt that way, that she wasn't the same as that bunch of old, ancient, shameless villagers. The fact that someone recognized that as well made her feel like jumping of joy. At the same time, she felt uneasy for the fact that she should have been laying in the coffin, slowly decaying.

Maybe it was for that, because he was different too, that she had decided to follow him almost immediately. But still, she couldn't quite comprehend what she was, what they were.

"What am I... exactly?" wondered Megumi out loud, still pondering about that little detail.

"A vampire. A spirit. A demon. Humans gave us many names" Tatsumi shrugged. "Pick the one you like the most, the important thing is that you realize you're not human anymore. You don't live or breathe like a human would. And you don't eat like a human would."

"What are we doing here?"

"This is our fortress" the man named Tatsumi explained. "Or at least one of them. You can spend the day resting here, because trust me, you do not want to see sunlight again."

Megumi trusted him. She wasn't an idiot; she knew that the sun could now kill her if she stay exposed to it long enough. Tatsumi and Mr. Kirishiki, however, she had seen both of them in broad daylight in the past, while she was still a human. Why hadn't they burst into flames back then, like in the movies?

That said, he opened the sliding door that stood before them. Something was moving in there. It was a man not much older than her, he couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen. She wondered where he came from; he didn't look like someone from Sotoba, or at least someone she recognized (and there weren't even many people in the town), maybe they had brought him from another town?

"Bon appetit" whispered the Kirishiki servant before leaving, closing the door behind him,"You've earned the privilege to kill."

Megumi stared for a minute at her potential victim. He wasn't to blame for anything of what had happened to her, but she didn't feel any pity towards him. They all had a destiny, and that person's fate was to provide her of strength to live—to keep going on and reach her dreams.

"I'm going to get out of this village no matter what!" she told herself, as her recently-acquired fangs emerged from her maw.

The blood had a satisfactory taste after that last thought. It felt surprisingly... good...tasty even.


	12. Epidemic

**Chapter 10: Epidemic**

Dr. Ozaki was practically banging his head against the wall—not only had he misdiagnosed Megumi, but "she" paid the ultimate price with her life...unfortunately, things were about to get worse.

Earlier, Nao Yasumori—the wife of his childhood friend, Mikiyatsu—had come in for some tests, as her husband thought that she didn't look so well. At the same time, more deaths occurred, all with the same symptoms. Ozaki started to suspect an epidemic.

* * *

Days later:

The heat was intense. Even worse for him, Natsuno had missed the bus, and was now walking to school. Ever since the funeral, he couldn't sleep well at all - it seemed like someone or something was watching him, eerily.

Luckily, a white car pulled up to him - and Natsuno immediately saw, and identified the driver.

"Hey, Natsuno!" It was Tohru, and as usual he was smiling, "What're you walkin' around in your school uniform for?" Natsuno replied, "It's not a school day?", then he quickly changed the subject, "Hey, what're you doing driving? You have your license already?"

"Still just a permit." The blonde pointed to the young woman sitting next to him, "Ritsuko here is keepin' an eye on me while I get some driving practice." Ritsuko waved to Natsuno, "Hey, how are you?"

"Uh, fine, thanks."

"In any case, Why're you walkin' around in this heat? Come on hop in back."

* * *

Later:

"Bus didn't come. I waited for an hour, then started walking to the next stop, and it passed me on the way there."

Tohru chuckled, "Yeah, the same thing happened to me before."

"It's about three hours to Mizobe if you're traveling on foot, isn't it?"

Natsuno laid his head back on the seat, "Yeah...", he said in an exhausted manner, just showing how bad the burning, late summer heat was, "If there were trains it wouldn't matter - There's just the stupid bus."

"Yeah, I know."

Tohru snickered, "What's wrong, not sleeping enough?"

"Pretty much.", Natsuno thought back to the night before, and recalled what appeared to be glowing, red circles outside his window. "Sometimes, all I can think about is how much I want to get out of here."

"Your parents moved all the way out here to be closer to nature, maybe you should humor them a bit."

"Eyes on the road!"

* * *

At the next stop sign, Tohru stopped for two more.

"Tomotsu, Masao..."

"Nice ride!"

"What's up Tohru?"

Tohru's little brother looked at the rather lanky Masao and spoke excitedly, "We're in luck, no more walking!"

"Yeah...", Masao paused at the sight of Natsuno, "On second thought, I'm gonna pass."

"Walk back, are you crazy?" Tomotsu was confused by his friend's sudden change of attitude, "The car will be a lot cooler than out here!"

"I said forget it,", Masao said angrily, "If you wanna ride with him, go for yourself!" After that, he ran off.

"Calm down, what's with you?" Tomotsu took off after him, "Wait, I'm coming!"

Ritsuko didn't know what to make of Masao's sudden change of attitude. "That was strange, what's wrong?"

"Masao isn't exactly Natsuno's biggest fan. Not that Natsuno seems to care all that much?" Natsuno hit the blonde on the head, which surprised Ritsuko, "What did hafta do that for?"

"Like I said, I don't want you calling me by my first name."

* * *

Ozaki Clinic:

Dr. Ozaki was starting to undergo alot of stress - the death count had risen from 4 to 29 in just a week. He was viewing the blood test results of Nao, which really confused him.

Ritsuko worked at the clinic as a nurse, and she was curious about how Nao's results were. "Doctor..." she began to ask him, "Is Nao's condition really bad?"

He calmly replied, "No...but her test results are puzzling. I want them to run the tests again. Can you call her, and schedule her for another appointment as soon as possible?"

"Yes Doctor..." and with that, Ritsuko walked out of the room.

 _Just as I thought. It's the same as Megumi's Anemia. Results of the Microscope analysis of blood and bone marrow._

 _Blood: Reticulocyte increase. Nucleated Red Blood cells present._

 _Bone marrow: Hyperplasia of the erythroblast. No irregular shapes detected._

 _No abnormality in the structural level. Instead, large amounts of Red blood cells are being consumed, Hematosis is even accelerated isn't it?_

 _But, she's not bleeding externally or internally. The coombs test is negative. The Bilirubin and LOH levels in the serum are both normal...There isn't any Hemolytic either._

 _The More I think about it, the more I feel I've ruled out every possibility._

It was at this point that Dr. Ozaki was more confused about the matter than ever.

* * *

The next day:

"Toshio, come quick!", Mikiyasu burst into the clinic, holding Nao up - she was getting worse.

"Why didn't you come in yesterday when I CONTACTED HER?" Dr. Ozaki was speaking in an infuriated manner.

"Eh...Nao didn't say anything about that..."

"Nao, how do you feel?" Her words weren't even audible.

Dr. Ozaki checked her pulse, and was alarmed immediately. _Her pulse is racing._

When he looked further up her arm, he saw two, small puncture marks. _Insect bites?_

Alerted by Nao's worsening condition, he immediately began barking out orders to the staff, "Yasuyo, **blood test**! Her pulse is too fast. Go and get the EKG just in case. After that, tell Dr. Shimoyama to get the Ultrasound and CT scan ready!"

* * *

Outside:

"Toshio, what's wrong with Nao...", Mikiyasu was asking the Doctor about his wife's horrifying condition, "Don't tell me she's contracted some terrible illness..."

Before Dr. Ozaki replied he thought to himself, _Look at him...just like when we were kids._ , "Right now we don't have any evidence of a serious illness." The doctor sighed, "What about you, Mikiyasu?"

"-Me?"

"You, or your family, or your employees? Anyone that you've been in contact with. Can you think of anyone who seemed sick?"

"Let me see..."

"She could've caught a summer cold from someone." Ozaki closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I can't think of anybody..."

He exhaled slowly and sparked up yet another cigarette. "Well, what about clients?"

"Huh?"

"I need you to concentrate. Did anybody look sick or act strangely?"

Finally, Mikiyasu said something that piqued the doctor's interest.

"About three days ago, our family was celebrating a festival. In the middle of our activities a man and his wife came up to us... He said that he was the owner of the new mansion. We offered to let them stay and enjoy it with us, but they said they were buisy. So all of us offered to let them visit us sometime. Then they just up and left... There was something...off about them, I can't really explain it." Mikiyasu put his hands on his face and let out a concerned sigh.

"Don't worry. I'm sure this is just caused by stress. She had been working alot lately right? We are going to patch her up and send her home with you... _I don't want to have her stay here and risk infecting the other patients who come in..._ or I can call a government hospital if you prefer."

"No, that's ok, I can take her home, our son would worry, she couln't possibly be that sick right?"

"Thats the spirit."

 _I'm sorry old friend, Nao won't survive this._

* * *

Night time:

Megumi was standing outside Natsuno's bedroom window - her burial outfit replaced by a pink lollita dress, with high-heeled boots, and shoulder-high gloves, as well as a black choker with a tiny rosary on it. She knew she wasn't human anymore - and Natsuno wouldn't even accept her as a person if he ever saw her, and Kaori would be terrified of seeing her friend as an Okiagari.

Megumi had never felt so alone in her life. Worse still, her parents wouldn't be there to comfort her.

* * *

The following day:

It was a tragic day for the Yasumori family—Nao had passed away. Masao happened to stumble across the funeral. He was as surprised as anyone to see this. Though he had more of a smug look on his face than one of sadness.

* * *

Mutou House:

Masao burst through the door, "Tohru! Tohru! Did you hear?!" he turned his head to see Natsuno was in the same room, much to his displeasure. "What is it?" Tohru replied, "Nao died I saw the pole-bearers carrying her coffin across the trail!" Masao he yelled that in his usual grating voice. Tohru looked up from his game in surprise, "Wasn't she kinda young?" he said. "Shimizu died last month, remember? I think there's a strange disease going around!" Natsuno looked up from a magazine he was reading. He glanced at Masao but only briefly, before returning to his reading. This angered Masao and he turned a sharp glare at Natsuno.

"You know Natsuno…..you're cold. People are dying left and right and you don't so much as bat an eye. Are you just stupid or is there something actually wrong with you?" Masao sneered at Natsuno with a smug look. Natsuno continued to ignore him. But this only sent him into a frenzy.

"HEY KID, DON'T IGNORE ME! I'M OLDER THAN YOU!" Masao grabbed Natsuno's scruff and stared at him with gritted teeth and bulging eyes.

"The deaths don't bother me because I don't know these people, dude. Do you cry everytime you see a death on the news? Why should they bother me? Its sad people are dying sure, but since I didn't know them then they aren't worth much more than a fleeting thought to me, if I was an emotional wreck over every person I don't know who died, then I couldn't function in society." Natsuno spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. Masao mistook this for malice however and snorted back at him gripping his shirt tighter.

"But doesn't it bother you that Nao was so young? With a family too, she must have had so many regrets!" Masao snarled at him, the fire in his eyes burned at the mere sight of Natsuno.

"Young people die all the time. Like I said it's kind of sad but it's not my problem…it's a matter of probability." At that point Masao readied to punch Natsuno but Tohru grabbed him and held him back.

"Tohru! Let me at him! He's cold! A heartless monster, didn't you hear about how he rejected a memoir from Shimizu!? Why are you holding me back!?" Masao kept struggling but with every movement, Tohru held him tighter.

"I know he seems kind of cold, and he can act impulsively sometimes, but think man! He is also being rational right now! Let it go, for god's sake Masao! Let it go!" Tohru kept a tight hold of Masao and caught a couple of off kicks in the struggle. Masao finally calmed down and slammed the doors open.

"Fine….forget this! I'm out of here!" Masao walked off and slammed the door again. The whole house vibrated and some lint fell from the ceiling.

Natsuno didn't show it, but Masao bringing up the fact that he turned down Megumi's postcard stung as bad as a hornet, _Did he have to say that?_ , he then changed his focus, _Maybe I should spend the night, I can't sleep in my own house anyway._

* * *

 **Inferno:**

The evil energy...it is stronger than before! And yet, I do not know who the source is.

* * *

Outside:

"Aw, man." Tohru dropped ten yen under the vending machine outside his house.

"Hey, how's it going?" He turned to see blue-haired, young man right next to him, "Good, except I dropped some of my money."

"No problem, that's why I always carry a backscratcher with me!"

To Tohru's surprise, it actually worked.

"Wow, thanks, I'm Tohru Mutou by the way."

"I'm Tatsumi, I'm new here!"

"Why don't you come and visit some time?"

"Sure, is it alright if I bring a friend?"

"Of Course! See you soon!"

"Yeah, see ya...very soon." Tohru didn't notice that Tatsumi's left eye started to eerily glow red.


	13. Surrounded by death

**Chapter 11: Surrounded by Death**

"Mr. Muroi?" A soft voice caught Seishin by surprise. "Are you Seishin Muroi?" When he looked down, he saw a little girl.

"Yes that's me. Who're you?"

"You're a fiction writer. I like your books alot."

"You've read my books?!" Seishin was surprised.

"Why, is that strange?"

"Not at all, glad you have. But I do have to say, you are probably my youngest reader."

"Yeah maybe. I did have trouble with some of the longer words."

"So, is reading something you enjoy?"

"Very much! I read a lot. My dad has your books on the shelves in his library, so I borrow them. There were six full-length novels, and then two shorter ones. If that's everything, I've read all your work."

"Incredible! That's everything I've done! It's very nice to meet you, I've never known anyone who's read them all!" Seshin was touched by what the little girl had to say.

"I've seen your essays in magazines too. There's one line, 'This village is surrounded by death'. You meant Sotoba, didn't you?" She spoke with the same facade she had been keeping up.

"I'm impressed you figured that out."

"If you've read the article, it's not all that hard to tell where the author lives. You just look up maps, cross referencing the author's bio, and the temple's name." The girl turned around, "You said the village is like a shrine. That sounds so nice. I bet my dad was thinking that same thing. He made the decision to move here after reading that essay. I was very interested in you Mr. Muroi. I wanted to meet you."

"Well, now that you have, I hope you're not disappointed."

"A little! You're more ordinary than I expected." Seishin chuckled when he heard this, "Yes, I imagined you'd have horns and a tail. I thought you'd look different because you write about people who've been forsaken. Now I understand—you don't have horns, but you don't need them..." the little girl turned back towards Seishin, "because you have a scar."

Startled by the fact that she knew about the scar he inflicted upon himself years ago, he hid his left hand behind him. She giggled.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Sunako."

"Well Ms. Sunako..." Seishin was interrupted by Sunako, who was angered, "DO NOT call me Ms.— I despise that word!" But then she resumed her cheerful demeanor, "I can teach you at least one thing, do you want to hear? That cut on your wrist was useless—people never die doing it that way!" And with that she hopped down the steps. Seishin held up his left hand, scar showing, "You're right—it was useless. Of course, I suspect I knew that."

* * *

"That makes 12 dead..."

Seishin had received a call from Munehide Murasako, Masao's father, "I'm afraid that we were right." he said to himself.

Then the phone rang again, this time it was Masaki Tashiro, the owner of a local Bookstore.

"Hello, oh...Hi Masa."

"I'm glad I got a hold of you, you heard the news? Officer Takami passed away earlier this afternoon."

"Officer Takami? What was the cause of death?"

"His kid said that he'd come home sick yesterday, with a pretty serious cold, and then he passed out in the bathroom today."

Seishin was writing, while Masaki kept speaking, "His wife is in a complete state of shock—she won't talk to anybody. Could you call 'em and try talking to her?"

"Of course I will."

* * *

"I understand, but I need to speak to him!" Seishin heard someone speaking to the other monks. "You have to come back when he's finished! End of story!" He looked and saw a young man with white hair and red eyes, until he left, saying "It's like talking to a couple of mules!"

"Who was that?" Seishin asked them, "No idea. He just kept saying that he 'needed' to speak to you."

* * *

 _ **This chapter focused on Seishin. Yes, Connor came to speak with him. Yes, he will get another chance. Yes, it has everything to do with SOUL EDGE.**_

 _ **Please Favorite, Follow, etc. You know the drill.**_


	14. Fear or Sadness

**Chapter 12: Fear or Sadness**

Kaori was eating a slice of watermelon on the porch of her house when Akira burst out. "I can't deny it, there's something strange going on here!"

"What, what do you mean?!"

Her younger brother then forcefully sat down and started chowing down on one of the other three slices. "In the village!"

First bite, "All these people that are suddenly dying—Megumi and Yasayuki and all the others—I'm telling you, they're connected somehow!"

Second bite, "And it started when those weirdos moved here! You told me Yasayuki spoke with _the woman_ before he died, right? Megumi too, she died after she walked up to Kanemasa, and we know she met the woman of the house because she told you!"

Then he finished the slice in fast multiple bites without taking a single breath. "But...they said they don't know anything..."

"Just Stop!" Kaori couldn't take another word, and dropped the slice of watermelon she had.

"Are you okay?"

Akira's sister was holding her ears and practically crying at this point, "I don't wanna talk, not about This stuff!"

Connor was nearby, and he heard everything.

* * *

 **Connor** **:**

The woman of Kanemasa, Chizuru Kirishiki. So Natsuno noticed the fangs too.

Well, the good news is that **Inferno** has yet to find a mortal body to use. So **Soul Edge** ISN'T responsible.

The bad news, however, is that this could lead to a war. That would boost **Inferno's** chances.

I need to make the antidote for reverting the undead back to living humans.

* * *

Dr. Ozaki was trying to revive Susumu Yasumori, the young son of Mikiyasu and late Nao. Right next to the doctor were Mikiyasu's parents, Tokujiro and Setsuko, worried about their grandson.

"In here, this way, quickly please!" Tokujiro was guiding the paramedics after they had just arrived. Unfortunately, things were looking bleak as Ozaki shouted "He's gone into cardiac arrest, HURRY!"

"Right!"

At this point, Tokujiro and Setsuko were panicking, "H-He's had a heart attack?! Is he...is my grandson dead Doctor?!"

"We're gonna do everything we can to revive him!" Ozaki then turned his head when he noticed Nao's picture, _Was he infected by Nao?_ Then Mikiyasu caught his attention—he wasn't looking well either—"Mikiyasu!"

When Mikiyasu spoke, it seemed as if he was nothing more than a machine speaking with preprogrammed lines, "Toshio...is Susumu dead?"

Ozaki noticed some things off when he grabbed his arm, _His pulse is irregular, and his breath is shallow, and his pupils are..._

Mikiyasu interrupted him mid-thought, "He was sleep talking last night...he kept crying out for his mother...and now...Nao is gone. The last words he spoke were in his sleep."

Right before the paramedics loaded Susumu into the ambulance, Ozaki stopped them, "You there...hold on, wait, I need to draw some blood! And take this man to the government hospital!"

* * *

Seishin had just got off the phone with Ozaki—after hearing that not only was Susumu taken to the government hospital, but so was Mikiyasu—and was making his way to someplace, flashlight in hand, when he bumped into Connor, "Oh, sorry..." he apologized, "No, t'was my fault."

"Wait...you came to the temple just a couple days before, right?!"

"Looking for Mr. Seishin Muroi."

"Well, I'm right here. I must say, first the European Mansion, and now someone who appears to be a real life knight."

"Allow me to introduce myself...my name is Sir Connor de Valentine."

"Very nice to meet you." The two shook hands.

"I came here looking for a certain sword." Connor took out an ancient drawing he had in his pocket, depicting a vile sword made of flesh, dripping blood, there was even an eye in it, " **Soul Edge**. I was informed that it was taken to this village. Have you seen it?"

"Sorry, but no...I haven't."

"Thank you, sorry for wasting your time."

"Not at all." after that, Connor was off, and Seishin continued his trek to who knows where.

* * *

A few minutes later, Seishin was interrupted again—almost at his destination—by a cliché snapping twig. He turned to see Sunako was there. "Oh, it's you. Sunako, right?"

"Good evening Mr. Muroi. What is this place? I didn't even know that anything was up here."

"Oh, these are the old temple grounds."

"Temple, huh?!" Sunako looked at what was 'supposed' to be the temple, but was castoff because of what was inside. "You mean some kind of church? It doesn't really feel like a church though."

"It is a church...well, it was or...at least that's what they had in mind when they originally built it."

"I see."

"I'm sure I've got a spare flashlight in here somewhere that you can borrow. I guess you could say this place is like my hideout."

* * *

Seishin lit a lantern inside as they walked past the unsettling stained glass windows that depicted deaths.

"Stained glass windows...kinda creepy though. Is that man on fire?"

"That's called 'Minima Ohtori'."

"Hmmmm, so whoever built this must've had some kind of obsession with martyrs!"

"It seems like it. I think it was built by someone from Kanemasa."

"Kanemasa?! Oh that's right, that's what all the villagers here call the land my family lives on." She giggled when she ran towards the stage.

"Sunako, do you always walk around this late at night?"

"It's the only time I can. I have a medical condition that gets worse when I'm exposed to daylight. We actually moved here to help me recuperate."

"Oh!"

"I wasn't trying to make you feel bad for me, Mr. Muroi."

"Well, that's not the only thing I feel down about. My childhood friend and his son might die...and they're both SO young."

"So, if they were old and dying, it wouldn't bother as much?"

"That's not what I meant. But still, don't you find it particularly terrible when two very young people have their lives cut short?"

(In all honesty, the only thing that bothers Death is when he's cheated, we all know Death hates being cheated.)

"I think death is equally terrible for everyone. Young people, old people, the good, the bad; it's always the same. It's rather fair in its treatment. There's no such thing as a particularly terrible death, that's why it's frightening. Your behavior and age, your personality, your wealth, beauty, yorur personal beliefs; all the things that add up to make us who we are, they only matter while we're alive. Death makes every last one of them null and void. So any death is terrible."

"Sunako..." The little girl's expression went from a sad frown to a smile.

"I guess I should start walking home now. Is it okay if I come see you again?"

"You're welcome here anytime, but the woods are dangerous at night, so I don't encourage it."

"I have half as freedom as everyone else, I can't give up what I DO have because it's risky. I'll bring your book with me next time. It'd really mean alot if you'd sign it for me." After another giggle, Sunako skipped away.

* * *

Dr. Ozaki called a meeting to discuss the deaths in the village.

"Now this might get a little confusing for the administrative staff, but just ask if you need me to clarify." The doctor himself started, "Mikiyasu Yasumori passed away on the tenth. This puts the recent death toll at 19."

The information caused everyone to gasp and murmur. "I'm just as shocked as you are. I am. Some of the deaths were outside the village, when you include those and the deaths recorded by the village coroner's office; Mikiyasu was the nineteenth. Whatever's happening here, I don't think that it's a mistake for us to consider this an epidemic. But it's not a documented disease; there's a chance it's an allergic reaction to an unknown substance, but I doubt it. In any case, unless we manage to identify the cause of death, we can't even ask the government for help."

Tohru's father was the chief medical administrator, "But we can still ask our local officials to investigate, can't we?"

"I'm planning on it. But we need to gather enough data to actually give them something to investigate. The only thing we have to go by so far is that it starts with anemia. And according to the blood tests, it's normacidic chrome anemia."

Shimoyama, X-Ray technician, "So it could possibly be caused by bleeding or hemolysis, well that makes perfect sense as to why you wanted Nao to be examined with the C.A.T. scan. But there was no trace of internal bleeding."

"What about hemolysis?" Ritsuko.

"That's the only real possibility left, but we can't confirm from the tests if the red blood cells are being destroyed or not. It can also be a poison or a narcotic, but that's a rather minimal possiblity, considering who the patients are. It's also important to take note of the fact that most of them died at night."

Nurse Kiyomi Nagata, "Do you think that it could be PNH?"

Nurse Yasuyo Hashiguchi, "You mean Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobin nuerea?"

"I see, so that would mean that Nao got a blood clot due to PNH and died of heart failure." Nurse Satoko Isaki, "Kidney failure is another common outcome of having PNH. Hey wait, didn't Ms. Fuki Gotoda die from kidney failure?!"

Nurse Yuki Shiomi, "But...I thought PNH developed and progressed rather slowly!"

Nurse Yasuyo Hashiguchi, "True, but this could be a more severe strain of it."

"I couldn't ask for a more capable stafe. I also think that's an extremely likely possibility. Although, I received Mikiyasu's test results earlier and it appears as though he had disorders in his liver, lungs, and kidneys."

Nurse Yuki Shiomi, "So multiple organ failure, also known as M.O.F., except these days that condition is typically referred to a secondary M.O.D.S."

"Whatever you wanna call it, the entire body breaks down. It progresses from anemia to M.O.F. and takes about three to four days.

Nurse Satoko Isaki, "I wonder how it's transmitted. If it's direct infection, then the family would be the first to catch it."

Nurse Yasuyo Hashiguchi, "Which would make us next in line."

Nurse Satoko Isaki, "Well, what about vectors?"

Nurse Yuki Shiomi, "You mean like rats or mosquitoes?"

Nurse Kiyomi Nagata, "But then the entire village would be infected by now, wouldn't it?!"

"The infection could lie dormant in some people."

Nurse Yasuyo Hashiguchi, "Some families could be succeptible, while others aren't. Maybe it's their physical constitution."

"For the time being, vectors are my number one suspect. Regardless, lets get to work on gathering data. I'm sure you guys are a little nervous, but think we could avoid infection if we're careful." Ozaki stood up, "With that said, we must keep the clinic infection free. Also, let's keep this quiet until we know what we're dealing with. We don't want people to panic."

* * *

Natsuno was on the bus, on his way to school. His sleep cycle had been even more nonexistent than before - It felt like Megumi was still there, stalking him. However, this Megumi was very different from the other - Her eyes seemed to glow, her skin was pasty, and instead of irritation, her presence brought chills down his spine. He tried catching up on his sleep on the bus, only to be awakened by a frighteningly, familiar voice.

"Good morning Yuuki! Rise and shine!"

Natsuno awakened at the very sound, terrified by who it sounded like - worse, Megumi was just two seats in front of his. She turned her head to the left, revealing a ominous, glowing red eye piercing into his very soul. However, after he shook his head, she was gone - she was never there.

 _You're imagining things._ he thought to himself, _She's dead! Why won't she get out of my mind?_


	15. Death Awaits

**Chapter 13** **: Death awaits**

Natsuno got off the bus, and right after that, Tohru ran up to him. "Natsuno!" The blonde shouted to his friend, and when he reached him he put his hand on his back, "You alright, you're kinda wobbly?!" The cheerful demeanor then turned into a concerned one, "Whoa, you look awful man! What's wrong?"

"Can I sleep...at your place?" Natsuno asked, groggily.

"Of course...no problem, I actually wanna talk to you about something."

* * *

 **Tohru's house**

"Hey," Aoi—Tohru's younger sister—began, as she was drying off her hair, "where are the other guys?" Her mother responded, "They're hanging out upstairs, in Tohru's room."

"Natsuno sure does spend alot of time over here; doesn't he have any other friends?"

"Now, don't be rude Aoi."

* * *

 **Upstairs**

Tohru was playing a video game, and Natsuno was sitting on Tohru's bed.

"You know Natsuno," the blonde boy began, "I know how eager you are to get out of this village, but you're gonna make yourself sick if you stay up late, studying for the entrance exams."

"Who asked you?" Natsuno was tired by now, "And quit calling me by my first name."

"Sure Natsuno." Tohru wasn't even trying, "So I've got a favor to ask."

That peaked Natsuno's interest, "Well that's unusual. What is it?"

"Okay, so...you know Ritsuko? I wanna ask her to go on a drive with me this weekend. But I'm too nervous. Would you mind coming with me when I ask her?"

"What? Hold on! Wasn't she with you when you were practicing?"

"Yeah...except this would be more of a, y'know...a date."

Natsuno was shocked by this, "Now wait a minute; slow down, and think this one through! She's a good deal older than you, isn't she?! Sorry, but I'm just not sure if it's such a good idea!"

Tohru pouted in disappointment. This made Natsuno give in. "Alright, you win. I'll come along with you." Tohru instantly perked up, even dropping his controller, "Who, you mean it?! Thanks man! I knew you'd come through!" He rushed towards Natsuno with open arms, only to be stopped by his foot in his face, "Cut it out with the physical affection!"

After the dark-haired teen dropped his foot, he began dozing off. "I'm really tired. I'm going to sleep now. Good night."

"Hey, hold on a sec! I've got a really comfortable pallet ready for you to sleep on! You can consider it your 'bed away from home'!"

"Sure." Natsuno sleep talked.

"So don't fall asleep on my bed."

* * *

Megumi snuck in, thanks to the invitation Tatsumi got her. Little did she—or anyone else for that matter—know that something, or someone else had their sights on the same target.

Megumi made it first. Natsuno saw her, but he couldn't move as she bit Tohru. However, just as her fangs were about to pierce his neck, Natsuno was forced to completely black-out. The source, was unknown.

* * *

 _ **Yeah, Tohru will die—but who or what caused Natsuno to fall unconscious, because it wasn't Megumi?**_

 ** _Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow._**


	16. Mixed Emotions

**Chapter 14: Mixed Emotions**

Megumi rushed out of the Mutou House - something was wrong, and Tatsumi could tell. "What the hell, Megumi?!" She couldn't answer as she was horrified by something she saw after biting Tohru. Something that shouldn't exist.

* * *

 **Inferno:**

This mortal does not suit me! Not even close.

* * *

 **Just before Dawn** **:**

Natsuno darted awake, and immediately went to see if Tohru was alright, "Tohru!...Are you okay? Answer me!" only to see that there were no bite marks. It had to have been a nightmare—though he understood why Megumi would do so, though he had to question - Was it the same Megumi?

* * *

Seishin was riding his moped to the various places where the victims worked, and saw something surprising; before they died, they quit their jobs. He almost crashed at the sight of Ookawa hitting his son Atushi—again—giving him a bloody nose.

* * *

 **Mizobe:**

"Aoi..." Natsuno bumped into her, as they were in the same class.

"Ah, Natsuno! What is it?"

"Is Tohru absent _again_ today?"

"Yeah. He's playing hooky."

"That better not mean what I think it does!" Connor took them by surprise.

"Gah! Don't sneak up on me like that! Wait...What?"

"He just bought a new video game, so he's been playing it all this time...just laying around like he's in a trance."

"I see." Both Natsuno and Connor responded at the same time, just before the latter left.

"Are you gonna stop by today?"

"No. I'll stop by earlier than usual tomorrow."

* * *

 _ **Connor:**_

If only I could find the remaining ingredients for the potion in time.

"Two stalks of bloodgrass, six cloves of garlic, five nightshade leaves, blood of the pure(Human), ashes of a damned(Another Vampire). all mixed into a potion. It is recommended to sleep for a day after consumption."

I have plenty of Nightshade leaves, I can cut my hand for the blood, I can easily buy the garlic, and I've collected plenty of ashes from head vampires after I staked and burned them. But bloodgrass...it only grows here, and haven't found even one stalk.

* * *

 _ **The Next Day:**_

Natsuno, of course, was making his way to the Mutou residence, only to see that Dr. Ozaki was in a hurry there as well.

"Doctor!" Natsuno heard Aoi—she sounded alarmed, which made him rush into the house as well.

"Dad, the Junior Doctor came!"

Their Dad, "Doctor!"

Their Mom, "Junior Doctor!"

The sight was shocking...

* * *

Dr. Ozaki, "Mr. Mutou... This is..."

Aoi, "What's wrong with Tohru? Is he...sick?"

Their Father, "Your brother is...Tohru is...dead."

Natsuno remembered that night, _No...she can't have! Did they...corrupt her?_

* * *

 **Yuuki/Koide Residence:**

Connor came with Natsuno to his place, but only went as far as the door.

"You finally see it, don't you?"

"You knew about this...BUT DIDN'T TELL ME!"

"I needed you to see it for yourself. Believe me, I didn't know for sure, either."

"You should've stopped her! Goddammit, what is wrong with you! Thanks to you, there are a bunch of evil..."

Connor interrupted him by putting his hand on Natsuno's shoulder and saying, "Not evil...Misguided. Shimizu just doesn't get this, 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!'."

"Oh...I..."

"Here's some 'friendly' advice; Stop being an asshole, she cares about you. Your mind might say that you hate her, but it's your heart that you need to listen to!"

Connor left, before Natsuno walked inside.

* * *

Natsuno was sitting on his bed, thinking about all the things Connor said, when his mother walked into his room.

"Natsuno...we should go to the wake now."

"Go..on ahead."

"Okay." She pulled out a postcard, "Ah yes. You got a postcard...though it's an end of summer greeting card."

Natsuno saw that it was from Megumi.

"Miss Shimizu is that girl who passed away last month, right? To think that you're receiving her postcard now..."

Natsuno smiled and simply said "There was a delay in delivering it. That's all. It's nothin we should be worried about."

After his mother left, he began reading it. He was astonished by it.

"Natsuno _…sorry I didn't give this to you sooner. Nerves I guess. I want to say so many things here but I'm not sure where I should start. Hope you're doing well now that summer is almost over. I've always hated sotoba. The people were so horrible to me every single day for as long as I can remember, no one understood how I felt. When you moved in I thought for sure you would relate…but you ended up ignoring me to any length you could...I still wanted to pursue you, getting ignored was way better than getting made fun of. In a weird ironic way, you treated me better than anyone else. At that one point, I thought you were someone who would just brush me along with the village aside until you could finally escape…but I'm so glad you talked to me. That day was the first time I'd ever felt like I was with someone of my kind. You made me finally feel like I belonged somewhere. That I wasn't just one person wandering alone in the world. That there were people who truly "get" me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for being there for me. Even if our time was bumpy to you. It meant the world to me. I don't know how you feel about me, but I think I really love you."_

Natsuno could no longer hold back the tears; his anger was directed away from Megumi and Connor, and towards the Kirishikis, "They caused this..." and then redirected again, towards himself, "It should've been me."

He then reached into a drawer in his desk, and pulled out a pen, and wrote on an empty space on the postcard, " _I'm sorry, but I don't deserve something this nice, especially not from such a great girl. Not for the way I treated you._ "

* * *

Masao was watching over the rice shop, until his family returned from the Clinic; the condition of his nephew; Hiromi, seemed to be getting worse, to the alarm of his father; Munehide, brother; Munetaka, and sister-in-law; Chizuka—Masao could care less about Hiromi, because before he was born, Masao was the one spoiled by the family.

Chizuka, "It's okay, I'll go put him to bed."

Munehide, "To think that it took this long to run tests...I wonder if he's really bad..."

Munetaka, "Pops, although the Junior Doctor told us that it might be a difficult anemia case, if Hiromi gets sick again, he said bring him in even if it's the dead of night."

Munehide, "But..."

Masao commented in a rather smug manner, "Hey, sis looks paler than him. So Hiromi really was sick. It's worrisome, isn't it, since there's been many funerals lately." He didn't even consider how his family felt about the situation.

Munehide, "Be careful what you say!"

Masao, "What can I say? It's the fact. Wouldn't it be better not to think that we're different from others?"

"Masao!" His father was becoming aggravated with him, as was his brother, "Stop it already! Hiromi is...!"

"Like I said, wouldn't it be better to be careful? Even young people die. In other words, it's a matter of probability, right?"

Munehide had heard enough, and slapped Masao, "Don't you have feelings?!"

"Ahh... Well, it's not me. I meant to say that there're people who'd say that."

Munetaka, "Masao... You're such a..."

* * *

Masao ran off to no place in particular.

 _To think that Dad slapped me...! To think Munetaka got angry like that...! If only Hiromi and Chika Didn't exist...I wouldn't have had to go through this!_

He stopped when he stubbled upon Tohru's wake, "Tohru..."

* * *

Family and friends were grieving this tragedy—Even Ritsuko, and Connor attended; Though Connor had other reasons.

Masao, "Uhm...I...I...Uhm..." Tamotsu and Aoi simply nodded. "I-I was so shocked...Tohru is... _Shoot... What should I say?_ " Then Natsuno walked up, along with Connor, "Where's Tohru?" Tamotsu pointed towards the coffin Tohru was in. Their mother was in tears.

"May I...see his face?"

"Yeah." Tohru's father responded, before opening the panels on the coffin that covered Tohru's face.

 _It's an empty shell of Tohru... I wonder...where he went... I wish there was a way to find him._

Right away Connor spotted something out of the ordinary; a small scorch in the middle of the right side of his hair—it was so small it was easy for anyone to miss.

"There's a small scorch mark in his hair." Connor whispered to Natsuno, "undead entities don't have fiery abilities."

"So...there's a third-party." Natsuno whispered back to him.

"I'll tell you about it somewhere else, as soon as possible." Connor knew exactly who caused the burn.

Natsuno turned towards his deceased friend's parents, "Please accept my condolences."

Masao, meanwhile, was in tears at what he saw in the coffin—to the point where he yelled out his friend's name. "TOHRU!"

* * *

After the funeral, Masao tried cheering Tohru's siblings up by reminding them of the times they had together, until he turned his attention to Natsuno. "You don't even cry, huh?" Masao was clearly angry at him, "Tohru died! How dare you make that sulking face!" Natsuno ignored him, but Masao leaned closer—hand on the wall, "You're definitely cold! Don't you have any feelings?"

Natsuno responded, "Don't pick a fight."

Masao burst forward, grabbing Natsuno by his necktie, "When did I try to pick a fight?! When?!"

Natsuno remained calm, "If you wanna fight me, I'll fight some other time. But not now! Hold it in, at least while you're here."

"Hey! Who's older here?!"

Connor was in the room, when Natsuno answered, "Yeah, you're almost an adult...so start acting like it!"

Masao's anger exploded, "How dare you talk like that!"

"Enough already!" Aoi was upset by everything that was going on.

"What?"

Connor, "If you wanna fight, do it outside!"

"Wh-What? Don't you get upset with him? He's very cold, isn't he?!"

Aoi, "It's you who's cold!"

"I'm cold? Why?! I'm very sad that Tohru died! Haven't I been saying that over and over?!"

"We feel sadder than that! It's our brother we're talking about!"

"Tohru was like a brother to me. He was better than the the one I do have."

"You say you're sad and you're right. Just how do you want us all to respond to that?!" Aoi put her foot down. "Did you come here to comfort us?! Or did you come here to have us comfort you?!"

* * *

 _ **I'm not going to put Masao getting bitten on here, but next chapter will have the revelation of Soul Edge and Inferno towards Natsuno, and what he was doing in the bedroom the night Megumi bit Tohru.**_

 _ **Please leave a Review, Favorite, and/or Follow.**_


	17. Revelation

**Chapter** **15: Revelation**

Connor began explaining the third-party scenario that was unfolding, "Long, long ago, transcending history and the world, an enormous sword was forged, designed to be the deadliest weapon on the battlefield. It was called **Soul Edge** and it was a beast. At a daunting six feet, one inch in length, no ordinary soldier could wield it... but those who could proved unstoppable. It left no survivors in its wake."

Natsuno interrupted, "That's what caused the burn in Tohru's hair?!"

"No...However, a great evil dwelled within the sword. After claiming victory upon victory and being bathed in the blood and hatred of countless foes, a fire was born inside **Soul Edge**. The demon **Inferno** had one purpose: to infect the world with evil and chaos, but in order to do this, he needed a warrior capable of wielding the true power of Soul Edge. He planned to possess this warrior and transform them into the azure-clad knight of darkness, **Nightmare**."

Natsuno realized something, _So it was **Inferno** who knocked me out._

"Inferno's first victim came in the late 16th century when a pirate named Cervantes de León raided an English galleon and discovered the intriguing blade aboard, claiming it as his own. **Inferno** seized this opportunity and possessed the pirate, testing his body by slaughtering the entire population of a Spanish port town. **"**

"So..." Natsuno was going to ask if Cevantes became **Nightmare** , but Connor interrupted because he already knew what he was going to ask.

"Unfortunately, while powerful, Cervantes was not the ideal vessel Inferno had sought. So he made him wait in that town until two Japanese women showed up, killed him, and somebody more powerful picked up the sword. That someone was a knight named Siegfried and this was the body **Inferno** was looking for. Once Siegfried's hand touched **Soul Edge** , **Inferno** began eating away at his soul, torturing him endlessly and feeding on his fear and anger, transforming him into **Nightmare**. **Nightmare** was strong enough to threaten all of Europe, conquering whole armies and devouring thousands of innocent souls."

Natsuno was surprised to hear of such violence.

"However, **Soul Edge** 's power was incomplete. At some point, it had been broken and shards of the demon sword had been scattered across the world. To unlock **Soul Edge** 's true power, **Nightmare** set off to find the lost pieces of his sword and repair it. As **Nightmare** discovered each shard, the power of **Soul Edge grew,** and so did **Nightmare** 's. Despite **Nightmare** 's evergrowing power, Siegfried constantly battled to free himself from **Soul Edge** 's curse and eventually he succeeded. The two did battle atop of Ostrheinsburg Castle, but **Nightmare** 's power was so great the entire structure was obliterated by a single swing of his vile blade."

"What enormous power." Natsuno said in shock under his breath.

" **Soul Edge** cannot be defeated by an ordinary blade. In fact, only one weapon has ever been able to harm it:" Connor unsheathed the sword on his back, "This supposedly holy blade called **Soul Calibur**. Unknown to most, **Soul Calibur** is actually the final shard of **Soul Edge** , reforged into a second sword made specifically to combat its demonic counterpart."

"But what does this all have to do with Tohru?"

"While **Soul Edge** may seem indestructible, **Inferno** requires a mortal body to create **Nightmare**. He thought that he might be able to possess Tohru, but he must've been rejected by Tohru's heart."

"I see."

* * *

Megumi discovered—outside Natsuno's window—that he had torn up her postcard, and the note that he left with it. The revived Megumi picked up the torn pieces of her postcard to Natsuno and was saddened by what he said on th note.


	18. Seeing is Believing part 1 of 3

**Chapter** **16: Seeing is Believing(Part 1)**

Natsuno gazed at the site where he left the torn postcard and note, and saw that both were gone.

"As I thought," he said to himself, "She came. However, I won't let you near her, **Inferno**. And I won't be killed so easily."

* * *

Dr. Ozaki couldn't leave the Murasakos in the dark any longer, "I'm sorry."

Munehide, "How could this..."

Chizuka was the most traumatized, "Hiromi! HIROMI!"

* * *

 **Upstairs**

Masao was helpless; he had been bitten by the librarian, was now paralyzed, and couldn't call for help.

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic**

Dr. Ozaki discovered that the insect bites were a likely vector for infection.

He lost his patience when his latest patient's wife maked a diagnosis and treatment despite the seriousness of cyanosis.

When Seishin informed Dr. Ozaki of the bizarre goings-on between the deceased victims, Ozaki scolded his friend for checking out something not related to the illness, though it did concern him.

In all honesty, though he took his anger out on others, Ozaki wasn't mad at them at all—he was actually blaming himself.

* * *

Seishin was sitting, thinking about his friend's anger, when Sunako walked in.

"Mr. Muroi?"

"Sunako..."

"I saw the light from the window of my house, so... Remember the promise? I brought your book to have you autograph it."

He did, "This is kind of embarrassing."

"Thank you. I'll cherish it forever."

When she walked out, Seishin warned her about what was going on, "Sunako, you shouldn't go out so much."

"Oh, so you _are_ bothered by having your territory violated."

"No, that's not it. With your illness, it's easy for you to catch infectious diseases, so..."

"Oh? You checked up on my illness? That makes me happy. But you don't have to worry about it. We have a live-in doctor at home since my mom has the same illness."

"I see. Then your mother needs to know this as well. I want you to keep it a secret, though. An unidentified disease is going around in the village right now."

"Unidentified?"

"Yeah."

"Is it a dangerous disease?"

"Yes."

"Oh, no...we came all the way to recuperate, but it's more dangerous than staying in the city, isn't it? These things do happen, though. After I was lucky enough to meet you... Is it all right if I come here once in a while?"

"It's not something that requires my permission. But do be careful."

"Are you feeling down again?"

"Toshio is feeling more down than I am. He's feeling impatient, frustrated, and angry for not being able to save his patients. I want to help him somehow, but I can't do much for him. He gets frustrated with me, but it's not really me that he's upset with. He's upset with himself. He normally doesn't let himself act like that. That's why it's so heartbreaking."

Sunako put her hand on top of his head, "Your feelings connect, huh? I feel sorry...for both Dr. Ozaki and you, Mr. Muroi."

* * *

Natsuno rented vampire horror movies to try and learn what he could on the undead—he could not, however, find anything on **Soul Edge** or **Inferno**.

He brought them to the Mutou house, as his own didn't have a TV. He was greeted by Aoi, "Good evening."

"Oh, Natsu. What is it?"

"Where's Tamotsu?"

"I think he's upstairs. Did you go to the wake for Masao?"

"No, I didn't." Natsuno walked upstairs.

"You _are_ cold."

"I don't think he would've wanted me there, anyway."

* * *

Tamotsu questioned on the movies Natsuno brought. "Would someone normally rent a horror movie and watch it at the house of a family in mourning?"

"Would a comedy have been better?"

"'Draculady'? So it's a comedy? You like this kind of stuff?"

"No."

Tamotsu was confused for a moment, but then joked about it. "Then how about dead people coming back to life?"

Natsuno gasped.

"Ah, you took the bait? In this village, we call the living dead 'Okiagari'."

Natsuno turned his head towards Tamotsu while gasping again.

"Oh? You must be really intrigued now, huh? Since we bury the dead in the village, legend says the dead would rise up at night and come to punish children who'd misbehaved. When I was a kid, if I stayed up late, Dad would scare me by saying 'The Okiagari will come to get you!'"

Natsuno didn't listen after the "You must really be intrigued now, huh?".

* * *

Natsuno discovers that Seishin has been borrowing books on the same subject and visits his temple, but is told by Miwako, Seishin's mother, that her son is out on business.

* * *

Part-timers working at Toshio's clinic began quitting in fear of catching the disease.

* * *

Natsuno approached Dr. Ozaki, who failed to save yet another life despite all his efforts, "If I remember correctly, you're the Yuuki boy..."

"Yes. I have a question for you, Doctor."

"Oh?"

"About Megumi Shimizu... You examined her, right?"

"I did, and I was also the one who wrote her death certificate."

"Was she really dead? Well, there're sometimes cases of brain death, right?"

"It wasn't a brain death. It was a cardiac death. She also exhibited livor mortis and rigor mortis. If there were even the slightest possibility of her being alive, I would've treated her, even if her family tried to stop me."

"Then...Then there's absolutely no way that she would come back to life?"

The Doctor laughed it off, "If she came back to life after that, she'd be a zombie or vampire." that laughter was instantly replaced with horror, _"_ _What did I just say?"_

Natsuno simply bowed, "Okay. Sorry for asking such a weird question."

"Hey! Why did you come to me to ask that question?" Though Natsuno turned, he didn't answer—the boy left.

As Dr. Ozaki was about to light his cigarette, he realized something; The insect bites were actually fang marks, and the symptoms, and everything else—even the stuff Seishin brought up—all tied together with it.

* * *

Kaori and her brother Akira snuck into the Kanemasa castle based on Akira's sightings of an already deceased villager heading inside. However, they were unaware of Tatsumi observing them from behind.

"Hey, did you really see him?"

"I told you I saw him, didn't I?! There's no mistake that Yasuyuki from the lumber shop, who should be dead, went into the Kanemasa residence!"

"Yasuyuki from the Ootsuka family..."

"Villagers die one after another because _they're_ doing something!"

"But I'm still scared. Let's talk to an adult and get their help."

"I told you! There's no way adults would believe a story like this! There's no other way. We have to do it!"

From the other side behind them was **Inferno** , who was also observing the siblings, though for a different, far more sinister reason.

The two ended up being caught by Natsuno. "Hey!"

They almost jumped out of their skins.

"What're you guys doing here?"

Kaori tried coming up with an excuse, "U-Um, we were..." then Natsuno interrupted, "If I remember correctly, you're Shimizu's friend, right?"

"Uh, y-yes."

"Kaori, who's this guy?"

"Come with me."

The two reluctantly followed.

"Someone was watching you guys."

They were shocked by what Natsuno had just said.

Kaori, "We didn't even notice."

Natsuno, "What were you doing there?"

Akira, "Nothing."

Natsuno, "Carrying something like—Don't tell me you guys think there's something fishy about that house too?"

Kaori and Akira were surprised to hear this.

Akira, "No way... You do too?"

Natsuno nodded, then Akira dropped the bat he was carrying, and ran towards Natsuno with open arms while crying tears of joy, much to the surprise of the older boy.

Natsuno, "Wh-What the..."

Akira, "You're the first one! There's finally someone who believe me! No one listened to me! I saw it! I saw someone who's supposed to be dead go into that house!"

"Okay, okay." Natsuno managed to push Akira's grip off of him, "In any case, we shouldn't talk here."

Akira, "Yeah."

* * *

They were joined by Connor, who happened to be waiting for them. When he set his eyes on Kaori—though he didn't show it—he knew she had to be "The One".

Connor, "People call them Okiagari, right?"

Akira, "What?"

"In this village, that's what they call those who die and come back to life, right?"

"That's right, okiagari! Yasuyuki from the lumber shop died in August. He didn't seem like the Yasuyuki I knew. But he was always nice to me, so there's no way I'd confuse him with someone!"

Natsuno, "I saw Shimizu."

"What?!"

Connor, "Well, I already knew about her, but not this Yasuyuki."

Natsuno, "I know, I know."

Akira, "You saw Megumi?"

Kaori started to break down, and Connor attempted to comfort her."No way... Before she died, Megumi told that she saw Mrs. Kirishiki. Yasuyuki, too. But even so..."

Natsuno, "We need to find out for sure." Kaori picked her head back up, and turned toward Natsuno. "We'll dig up Shimizu's grave."

"What?!"

Connor, "Then we'll know immediately whether she rose or not."

Akira, "Th-That's right! That's what we should do!"

Natsuno, "Not you Connor."

Connor, "What, why?!"

"You're from Europe, where vampires legends are most well-known. You need to work on a cure from those legends."

"The thing that I'm missing is Japanese Bloodgrass; and I haven't seen any."

Kaori, "Did you look in the meadow north of here?"

Connor, "Huh, north of here?!"

"Megumi and I used to play there as kids."

* * *

 _ **Part 2 of this three-part chapter will come soon.**_

 _ **Please leave a Review, Favorite, and/or Follow.**_


	19. Seeing is Believing part 2 of 3

**Chapter 17: Seeing is Believing(Part 2)**

Masao's eyes snapped open, the trance that had held its grip could hold him no longer and he regained full awareness. _"Where am I…ugh my head hurts….why is it so dark in here….wait…what does the top of that wood say?!"_ Masao looked to the top of the coffin door, the letters were depressed into its frame "Masao Murasako. Peaceful wishes"

 _"Why does it say that?! Why can't I open the door! Let me out! Let me out! LET ME OUT!"_ Masao started to panic, he clawed and punched at the coffin ceiling, wood splinters falling on his face. He kept struggling. Every few seconds another arm would thrust out and batter the ceiling. He even head-butted it. All to no effect. _"No! This is a mistake! I'm still alive! Please let someone get me. Don't leave me in he-"_ Masao stopped the silent pleading in his head when he heard digging coming from just above him. When the digging stopped the lid of the coffin was pulled off, and the one who was doing it was a blue-haired man. "What?" He thought to himself, "Who is he?" The man simply smiled, "Hi!" Masao panicked again, he tried to speak, but couldn't. "You lost your voice, right?" The blue-haired man said again, "Don't worry. There's a trick to do it. When you speak, do it like you're breathing."

Masao was confused, "Huh? I'm not breathing."

"Don't worry Masao. You'll get used to it soon." The man put a hand forward to help Masao up, "Here."

When Masao was out, he panicked yet again. "Calm down!" He was reassured by the man, "Yup. This is your grave. You died." Masao still panicked, "I died?"

"Like I said, calm down and listen to me. You came back to life."

"Came back? I'm an Okiagari?"

"Sounds like that's what you call it in this village." He replied while filling Masao's grave back up, "You came back to life, though you're no longer human."

"Not human?!"

"Would you prefer to go back in here?" Masao rapidly shook his head.

"It's not like everyone comes back to life, you know. Your nephew, Hiromi didn't come back to life." He pointed to another grave, "You smell the sweet scent of decomposition in the air, right?"

"Hiromi died..."Masao smiled at this, "He won't rise?"

"Only one in a few people do. In other words, you're special. And our precious friend."

Masao was happy to hear such things.

"Unlike humans, you won't age or die from illness anymore….but you're still far from invincible…sunlight will burn you where you stand, and you will die if someone shoves a stake into your heart…or if they cut your head off….but look on the bright side!" The man finished hammering the grave marker back into the ground, "Who would ever do that?"

* * *

To train Masao, the man(Tatsumi) took him to a boarded up house and taught him about surviving as an okiagari. Tatsumi revealed himself to be a special vampire known as a "jinrou", who can stay outdoors during the day and survive for long periods of time without drinking human blood. He convinced Masao that it's okay to attack and feed on his fellow human villagers in order to survive. "You've gained the privilege to kill."

Masao stood above a weakened boy, and a glass of blood. Without hesitation, Masao grabbed the glass, but his wrist was grabbed by another, less human claw. When he turnedto see who it was, there was no one.

* * *

 **Inferno:**

This is it...this one is the body I was looking for!

There's no mistake, he is the source of the energy I have been sensing. I must have him!

* * *

Elsewhere, Giichi Yasumori(Mikiyasu's Father, and Susumu's grandfather)rushed in with his wife, Setsuko. "Toshio, come quick! It's Setsuko now!"

The old woman was put into a bed, _"Nao. Susumu. Mikiyasu. And now, even Setsuko... This isn't going to stop, is it..."_

The doctor's deceased friend's father then begged, "Toshio. Just give it to me straight. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THIS VILLAGE!?"

Ozaki calmly responded, "Tokujiro...I think we should admit Setsuko."

* * *

Seishin and Ozaki were discussing serious matters involving the deaths.

"It's rare for you to be the one to call me out, Toshio. You gave me quite a shock." The Junior Monk started, "But you have good timing. There's something I need to report to you."

"What is it?"

"Ishida went missing."

"What!?"

"And so have the recent death certificates from the town hall. At this rate, the rising number of deaths in Sotoba will not reach the outside."

Ozaki calmly replied, "Yes, I see. _So, that's how it is._ "

Seishin continued, "Toshio, do know what that means? Now, we won't be able to present all the data about the epidemic to the administration anymore! Nobody outside is going to find out. Our village is going to be alone!"

"...No. It's not about the epidemic anymore."

"Toshio!?"

"Hey, Seishin. Didn't you write in one of your essays that this village is surrounded by death?"

"Why the sudden change of subject..."

"I feel like...I've discovered the explanation of all these deaths."

"You figured it out!?"

Ozaki went through the list of all the symptoms, before summing it all up, "It was Okiagari."

Seishin was shocked by what his friend said, but Ozaki explained how it made sense.

* * *

Meanwhile

Connor had reached where Kaori said the bloodgrass was at, and sure enough, there was a lawn of it. "Damn..." he said at the sight of it, "One might call this a Jackpot!"

* * *

Tanaka residence, at the same time

"And where are you two going?" The sound of their mother's voice startled Kaori and Akira, but the latter managed to think if an excuse almost immediately, "Just out for a bit..."

"Come back right away!" Was Mrs. Tanaka's response, "I have to go out to help the funeral group with stuff, so you need to stay at home and watch the house!"

Kaori, "Funeral group...!? Did someone die again?"

Mrs. Tanaka, "It's Motohashi's old lady. It's been jobs like this every time. I hate this!"

* * *

On the way to the cemetery

"Hey, Kaori!" Akira was curious about something. "Do you think that Natsuno will come?"

"Why are you in such high spirits?" His sister wondered, before responding "Yuuki? He has to come, right? He was the one who suggested it, after all."

Akira, "He wouldn't...run away, right? Adults are liars after all."

Kaori, "He's still in his first year of high school, you know. He's in the same year as Megumi, and one year ahead of me."

Akira spat out, "That just makes him even weirder! He was acting like he knew exactly what was going on! And even if he was serious then, it's been long enough for him to decide it's a stupid idea and quit on us!"

Kaori, "Perhaps...It'd be better if we all stopped."

"What!?"

"-After all, this thing about vampires and Okiagari...if you really think about it seriously, aren't they just nonsensical stories for children!? We're going to exhume Megumi's grave based on that? This isn't something we should take lightly."

Akira spat out again, "Keh! Kaori, you coward! If Natsuno turns out to be a coward too and doesn't come, I'll be real disappointed in him! I thought he'd be one to keep his word!"

Not too far, **Inferno** was stalking the two, knowing that they were(unwittingly)standing in his way.

* * *

When they arrived at the meeting place, the two found that Natsuno wasn't there. Akira collapsed in disappointment. "He didn't come...I knew it. I knew he wouldn't come. That's how it is."

"It can't be helped." Kaori said, ready to leave, "Let's go home, Akira."

Akira tried convincing her to stay, "Wait, Kaori! Let's do it! Even if it's just the two of us!"

"EEEHHH!?"

"We can't just leave things as they are, right..."

Suddenly, a shadowy figure came out from behind the shrine, scaring the bejesus out of Akira. "HYAAAAAAAAAA!"

Kaori got a better lit look at him, "Ah, Yuuki."

"Take this!" Natsuno tossed a bigger shovel to Akira, and a trowel to Kaori.

Akira, "Heh...heeeh, your really came. HH-MMM HOUUU."

"So we were supposed to bring big ones..." Kaori thought to herself, while hiding a handheld spade behind her back.

Natsuno, "Let's go!" he then asked Kaori for directions, "You know where the grave is, right?"

Kaori, "AA...yeah. We climb up that way a little, and go in from there."

* * *

After a long trek, the trio reached their destination; Megumi's grave.

Kaori noticed Natsuno putting gloves on. "Are...Are you really going to do it? _I mean, Megumi is under us, and she..._ " She stopped thinking as the idea of seeing Megumi's rotting corpse was enough to frighten her. "-No!" She then tripped on a little box; a box that she buried on top of Megumi's coffin. "This is...!"

Akira, "-what's that?"

"This...was the birthday present I left on Megumi's coffin. It was buried with her..." Kaori said while opening it, "It's a lucky charm to help Megumi fulfill her wish to go to a city university...why is it here?"

Natsuno, "Because someone has dug this out once before."

Kaori, _"Is that possible!? Could it be true?"_

Natsuno, "-All right. Let's do it!" He started to dig. _"I need to know. Did you rise, Shimizu?"_

"Woah!" Akira jumped back when Natsuno flung the dirt, then he joined. "Al-All right! Me too!"

Kaori, "Akira, wait..."

 _"Whoaaa, Megumi, forgive us!"_

* * *

It was hours before someone hit the coffin with the shovel.

Akira, "That sound...The coffin!?"

Natsuno, "Seems so. Just a little more. Hurry up! If we don't finish this soon, the sun will be totally gone."

After digging a little more:

Akira, "-All right!"

Natsuno, "That should be enough to get the coffin open!"

"Yeah!"

The lid was already popped.

"At any rate, the cover...usually gets nailed shut...right?"

"I suspected as much."

Akira, "N-Natsuno..."

Kaori, "Hold on a sec!"

Natsuno, "I'm gonna open it!"

The two braced themselves for what they were about to see.

Then, Natsuno opened the coffin.

Kaori covered her eyes, fearing she would see what she pictured.

Akira, "It's empty..."

Kaori uncovered her eyes. It was empty.

Natsuno, "So now we know. Shimizu rose up."

Kaori, "No way...Megumi did..."

Two hands suddenly came out of the darkness, and grabbed the girl by surprise, silently, and dragged her into the woods.

Natsuno, "What's the matter?"

Akira, "What?"

What they saw was that Kaori was missing.

Akira, "Huh?! Kaori?!"

* * *

 **Kaori's POV:**

What? What? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on?

Is this...a person? But the skin is cold!

* * *

The shadowy figure opened his/her mouth, revealing a pair of fangs.

 _"Oh no!"_

She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the charm from earlier. "Help me, Megumi!"

Upon seeing the charm, the figure let go of her. Out of nowhere, Connor came charging in; Sword drawn but still in sheath. "Duck!" He slammed the flat edge of the blade on the figure(man)'s face, seemingly killing him. Just then, Natsuno and Akira rushed onto the scene.

Natsuno, "Whoa!"

Akira, "Kaori! Are you okay?!"

Kaori, "Y-Yeah..."

Natsuno kneeled down, examining the body.

Akira, "What's with that guy?"

Natsuno touched the man's skin with his bare hand, "He isn't...breathing."

Akira, "What?!"

Natsuno, "He's dead."

Akira looked up at Connor, "Hey...D-Did you kill him?"

Connor, "Looks like it..."

Kaori, "Oh no...O-Oh no...That can't be true."

Akira, "It's not your fault! You hit him in order to save Kaori! It's legitimate self-defense!"

Natsuno, "We have to do something about this."

They all looked toward the open grave. Natsuno stood up.

Kaori, "What? H-Hey...You shouldn't do that! What're you thinking?!"

Akira's attention then turned towards Natsuno, "What is it?"

Natsuno, "Touch this guy."

Both Akira and Kaori, "What?!"

Akira ended up touching him, "He's cold..."

Natsuno, "Yeah. I can't feel his body temperature at all."

Connor, "If I really had just killed him, his body would still be warm."

Kaori, "It was like that earlier, too. When he touched me, his hand was cold."

Natsuno, "This guy...His body temperature wasn't normal in the first place. It's true that he's dead...but it's not that he died just now."

Kaori, "Th-Then..."

Akira, "This guy is...Probably..." He then jump back in disgust.

Kaori, "He looks like a regular person...no different from us..."

Natsuno, "But his body temperature isn't normal. He was dead all along. If so, he might not have been breathing from the start."

Akira, "Does that mean that he might start moving again?"

Natsuno, "Let's throw him in the grave."

Kaori, "Are you serious?"

"We'll come here tomorrow again. Even if someone finds it, as long as they don't know we did it, it'll be fine. I'm scared, too. But...this is something that someone has to do. Unless someone does it...the village will certainly come to an end. Let's take care of this."

Akira, "Okay."

Natsuno and Akira started dragging the body towards the open grave.

Connor, "You would think that he would be light enough for them..."

Kaori, "Be nice!" rustling startled her.

Connor, "Hey! Hurry up or we'll leave you here!"

* * *

A couple minutes later:

Natsuno, "Okay...I think this will do."

The man was only halfway covered in dirt.

Akira, "But he isn't completely buried yet."

Connor, "This is fine. For one thing; If he's an okiagari, it'd be better if he's found by adults. Then everyone might realize what's going on in the village. Another thing; the canopy is so dense, the sun will not burn him."

Akira, "I see...You're right."

Natsuno, "Let's go home. We'll come here first thing in the morning tomorrow. Take it easy and get a good night's sleep."

Akira, "Yeah."

* * *

 _ **Tell me what you think. Inferno found his new host. Connor got the bloodgrass for the potion. Setsuko has been admitted to the Ozaki clinic. Etc.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	20. Seeing is Believing part 3 of 3

**Chapter 18: Seeing is believing part 3**

 **Yuuki residence:**

Natsuno, "What the hell were you doing, Connor?"

Connor, "Well, I was coming to inform you that I got the bloodgrass—I just happened to stumble upon the scene; I thought I should help."

Natsuno, "I had to ask."

* * *

 **Tanaka residence:**

Akira was sleeping in his bed—or, rather he was trying to.

* * *

 **Akira's POV**

But...how am I supposed to get a good night's sleep?

* * *

Akira freaked out when heard the door begin to slide. He thought, at first, what it was was the Okiagari. But, then, he heard a soft voice.

"Akira..." It was only Kaori, "I'm so scared that I can't sleep. Can I sleep with you?" She paused when she saw that he wasn't in bed, or rather on top.

"Oh, it's you, Kaori."

"Wh-What did you think?"

The two were next to each other, with one of the blankets dividing their bodies.

Kaori, "I wonder if it's okay."

Akira, "What's okay?"

"That man...All we did was spatter him with dirt."

"Natsuno said that it'd be better if the guy was found anyway, right?"

"What if he wasn't found?"

"What?"

"What if he leaves that place and no one finds him?"

"I...I'll try telling my classmates when I go to school the day after tomorrow."

"I wonder if they'll believe you."

"I don't know. But I have to tell them!"

* * *

Natsuno rode his bike, while the other three ran to the meeting point.

Kaori, "Oh?"

Akira, "Natsuno, Connor! You're early! Since we couldn't sleep, I thought we'd definitely be here first."

Kaori turned her attention to the grave, "It's...It's been put back like it was."

Natsuno, "The guy from yesterday must've done it."

Connor then proceeded to poke his sword into the ground, "It doesn't seem that anything is buried in there, either."

Akira, "I bet he went back to the Kanemasa house."

Kaori, "What?"

Akira, "That house is their nest. Let's burst in there together and defeat them!"

Kaori, "What!?"

Natsuno, "We can't."

Akira, "What?! Why not?!"

Connor sheathed his sword, "Doing so screams 'I'm suicidal'; we can't do that, it's too risky.

Akira, "They're vampires, right? Then they're sleeping in coffins during the day, right?!"

Connor, "You're thinking of movies, and not legends; The young man from Kanemasa was awake even though it wasn't night. He's what's called a 'Day-walker'."

Akira, "Ah..."

"They look like vampires, but we don't know if any of the weaknesses that the vampires I'm familiar with are in these Japanese versions. Sleeping during the day, being vulnerable to things like crosses, holy water and garlic, being unable to come inside a house unless invited, and hammering a stake in the heart...not all of them are useful."

Akira, "I know that's true...But then what should we do?!"

Connor, "Actually, I can confirm a few things; holy items still scare the standard breed, and it appears that they do sleep during the day, but not in coffins. Other than that, I'm not sure."

Akira, "Are you telling us to just roll over and die? I can't accept that!"

Natsuno, "Calm down. We don't even know how many of them exist. If we assume that it's all of those who died so far, wouldn't it be more than ten, together with those from Kanemasa?"

Connor, "More than ten mysterious enemies... We need to think about how we fight against them."

Kaori, "I wonder if old lady Ms. Motohashi...will rise up, too."

Natsuno, "Ms. Motohashi?"

Akira, "Yeah. An old lady in our neighborhood. Come to think of it, Mom said she died."

"Do you know where that old lady's grave is?"

Kaori, "Yeah...I think they'll bury her in her funeral today, so if we follow the funeral procession... Ah! Hey, don't tell me...!"

Akira, "Oh, I get it! We'll wait for her to rise up from her grave and defeat her, right?!"

Natsuno, "We'll dig up her grave before she rises up and take care of it."

Akira, "Ah..."

Kaori, "B-But how are we gonna do it? Crosses and holy water might work only on European ones, right?"

Natsuno, "Yeah...Why don't we try hammering a stake or something into her heart as a first step?"

Connor pulled out a medallion, "IF she's able to rise up, then this will glow. Not everyone turns."

* * *

 **Late at night:**

Connor, "Dammit! She's completely dead! She's not going to rise up unfortunately!"

Natsuno sighed.

Akira, "What's up with that sword you have? It's kinda big..."

"You really know how to pick your time, don't you!" Connor replied, sarcastically, "It's called **Soul Calibur** and it's lighter than it looks."

Akira, "Is there some kind of story behind it?"

Connor groaned, "Alright, I'll tell you the story!"

* * *

 **Elsewhere:**

 **Seishin's POV:**

-If what Toshio said is true...Sunako...You couldn't be...

* * *

 **Yuuki/Koide residence:**

Later that night, a "little girl" carrying a life-size doll was at the door of Natsuno's house. Not far away, Connor was spying on her, as he noticed something about her; She had pasty skin, and black eyes with red, glowing irises—she was an okiagari.

The girl called into the house, "Hello!" It was a little while before someone answered the door. It was Natsuno's father.

Mr. Yuuki, "Yes?"

Connor, _"Don't let her in, Mr. Yuuki!"_

Girl, "Am I correct that this is the Yuuki residence?"

Mr. Yuuki, "Y-Yes, it is. Ah...You are...?"

The girl introduced herself, "My name is Shizuka."

 _"What a strange child...Something seems off about her."_

Shizuka, "Where is Natsuno? Is he home?"

Connor, _"Dammit...now they're targeting Natsuno."_

Mr. Yuuki, "Oh, you're an acquaintance of Natsuno's? He isn't back yet. You have some business with him?"

Shizuka, "I have important business with him. Is it okay if I wait?"

"Wait?"

"That's what I said."

 _"Just how long is she going to continue this stupid ventriloquism? Is it because I was nice to her?"_ Mr. Yuuki thought before speaking, "What is this business? Do you want me to give him a message?"

Shizuka looked around with the doll.

Mr. Yuuki continued, "Is this urgent? It's already dinner time so why don't you do it tomorrow?"

The doll's face suddenly changed into a much more menacing one, with bulging yellow eyes, and pointed teeth. "No!" Shizuka lashed out, much to the shock of Mr. Yuuki. "No! No! It has to be today! When I say I'll wait, I'll wait!"

"But I don't know when Natsuno will be back. What's your last name? Who're your parents?"

"I said my name is Shizuka Matsuo? I'm from Sakaimatsu that is between Monzen and Kami-Sotoba!"

"Sakaimatsu? Is that the name of a place? Or is it a name of the house? There's still many things that I don't know about the village, so...In any case, your house is far and it's already dark. Please go home for today. I'll let Natsuno know you came."

Shizuka stepped around while growling, and then she threw the doll into the house. When it landed the head popped off.

Connor, _"Damn you're persistent!"_

Mr. Yuuki, "Hey, you!"

Shizuka put up her now-bare hand(which had a face drawn in the palm), "Why do you keep being in my way, you damn old man?! Let me come inside already!"

Connor, _"So they still need an invitation to enter."_

Ms. Koide—Natsuno's mother—then came, "What's going on? What's the matter?"

Mr. Yuuki, "Th-This girl says that she has business with Natsuno and insists that she wait."

"Oh, it's just a child. Why don't you let her come inside?"

"She's strange. She isn't normal."

"What good would it do to make a fuss over what a child does? Be nice."

Mr. Yuuki sighed, "Okay. In any case, you can wait for him inside."

Shizuka didn't hesitate to just walk in.

Connor snarled, _"Dammit!"_

Mr. Yuuki, "What...?! Ah...H-Hey!"

Shizuka picked up the doll, and put it back together before turning around, "Well then, I'll wait in Natsuno's room. Where's his room?"

Connor quickly, but quietly, rushed to the wall on the left side of the door, and put his ear on it to listen.

Mr. Yuuki, "Why don't you at least try to listen to me?!"

Shizuka stomped her foot on the floor, "Where is it?!"

Mr. Yuuki was baffled for a moment, and then sighed and pointed in the direction to Natsuno's room, "Go right at the end of the hall way there."

Shizuka made her way, but stopped briefly and turned again, "Oh yeah...My brother will come later, too. Okay?"

"Okay, okay. That's fine."

Connor, _"I have to warn him!"_

* * *

 **Ozaki clinic:**

Dr. Ozaki put his coffee mug down, "Thanks for keeping me company."

The one he was talking to was Seishin, who was also present.

Ozaki, "How's your work going?"

Seishin, "Hm?"

"You're writing a novel, right?"

"Yeah. It's titled 'Shiki.' It's about a man who wanders about the wilderness. On that hill, he was a heretic. When placed in his hands, nothing does what it should. He would spin the pulley of the well to draw some water, but when he touched it, it turned into dirt. His younger brother was a kindhearted man of character. His affection made everyone who was around him smile. Then why...did he murder his younger brother?"

 **Later:**

Dr. Ozaki, as he closed the door to the recovery room, "Do you think they'd come to the clinic?"

Seishin didn't answer, and Ozaki noticed the look on his face, "You look like you still have some doubts about it."

Seishin, "It's rather impossible not to have any doubts."

"Well, that's okay...They'll definitely come and attack here."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Listen. Considering the cases up until now, it's not like they kill their victims in one shot. Megumi collapsed on August 12th due to anemia. Her condition gradually deteriorated until she died on the 15th. It took four days...In other words, it's probably safe to think that they sucked her blood four times."

"Four times?!"

"Generally speaking, once fifty percent of your circulating blood is lost, you go into cardiac arrest. If we consider that the total amount of blood is four liters, fifty percent is two liters. Even they can't suck two liters in one shot, I guess. They get full. Their meals are probably about twice as much as this cup. If the amount of blood they suck in one time is about this much, it means that the shock happens on the second attack and the cardiac arrest on the fourth attack. Well, in reality, it's probably not that simple, though."

"But if they do things like that, even if the victims are asleep, won't they get up? Why don't the victims say anything?"

"It's probably more like something prevents them from speaking out."

"Something?"

"Just like certain kinds of insects, they may inject substances like narcotics. What if they can use that to control their victims...?"

* * *

 **Daylight:**

Dr. Ozaki checked Setsuko's condition, "Not bad. Her condition is stable. At least, it didn't get worse."

Seishin, "Yeah."

 **Downstairs:**

"Oh, Ritsuko, good morning."

One of her fellow nurses—Kiyomi—walked down the steps.

Ritsuko, "Good morning. Is that Setsuko's breakfast?"

Kiyomi, "Yeah. She didn't feel like eating, though. But her vital signs are stable. I wonder if having her stay at the clinic helped."

* * *

 **Changing room:**

Ritsuko and another nurse, Yasuyo, were changing into there work attire.

Ritsuko, "Yasuyo...Is it really okay for us not to stay here at night?"

Yasuyo, "I think it's okay...since the doctor says it's not necessary."

"Yeah...I guess..."

* * *

 **Meeting room:**

"Two house calls in the morning and in the afternoon..."

Everyone was quiet for a while.

Yasuyo, "Doctor..."

Ozaki snapped out of what appeared to be a trance from lack of sleep—that's what it was. "Hm? Ah, yeah...in the afternoon, there's one."

Mutou, "Doctor, how's Setsuko doing?"

"How? Not bad. That's it. Let's start today's work. Thanks."

 **Later:**

Yasuyo, "Have you decided on a specific treatment for Setsuko?"

Ozaki, "Hm? It's not like that, but...what's the matter?"

She raised her voice, "'What's the matter'?! Everyone's worried. To see you doing night duty by yourself...You're pushing too hard. Why aren't you having us help you?"

"Yeah...I know..."

"So what do you say?"

He remained quiet.

"Okay..."

"Sorry. Once I've decided on the treatment, I'll ask for help."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Yasuyo sighed with relief, then walked away, but before she got far, he said one last thing to her. "Yasuyo...thanks."

* * *

 **Outside:**

A red car pulled up just as Ozaki was about to leave on his bike.

"Hm?"

A woman came out, his wife, Kyouko.

"You really do look exhausted."

"Kyouko! What brought you here?"

Kyouko, "I got called in by your mother." she sat on the hood of the car, "She said that you told her that you wanted me to come home."

Of course, he knew it had to be his mother. "She said that?!"

"Yeah. 'I'm so busy at work that I'm totally exhausted. If you're my wife, at least be here with me at a time like this. Close your store and come home!' Well, I knew it was a lie right away."

Ozaki was scratching his head. "You can go back. You don't have to be here. Even if you stay, I can't spend time with you."

"I _will_ stay. I put up a sign saying that the store will be closed for a while, so..."

He sighed, "Well...Stick around a bit to satisfy mom then you can go back."

"I will, even if you didn't tell me so."

"No. I won't allow you to go back." Ozaki's mother, Takae, showed up—seemingly out of nowhere.

Kyouko, "Oh..."

"Kyouko! You are married to an Ozaki. Going back when your husband is exhausted from work...? Shame on you!"

"Oh, that was a gaffe. I never thought you'd be hiding and eavesdropping on our conversation, so..."

Takae turned to her son(Their relationship was strained at best), "Toshio, why are you so busy? What's going on in the village? People are dying one after another. Don't tell me it's an epidemic."

Ozaki jumped at that.

Kyouko, "What?!"

Takae, "So, is it?"

Ozaki, "Yeah. It looks like an epidemic is one possibility."

Takae, "I knew it! Listen to me. When the next patient with that epidemic comes, call an ambulance and send them to a different hospital. You don't have to do anything dangerous! Okay?!"

 _"It's obviously not okay!"_

"Toshio! You are the only son of the historic Ozaki family. What'll happen to the clinic if something happens to you? Since a certain someone stays out of home, there's no heir, you know!"

Kyouko, "Hey!"

Ozaki, "When push comes to shove, we can adopt a smart child from our relatives. If not, how about you getting remarried, Mom?"

Takae, "Wha..."

Kyouko, "Hehe..."

Ozaki, "I'm going to make house calls now."

Takae stood there, baffled, while Kyouko smiled and waved. She then turned to her daughter-in-law, and slapped her on the leg.

Takae, "To see that you expose so much of your legs!"

Kyouko, "Ouch! What're you doing, you damn old hag?!"

"Shut up! Behave more refined!"

"I don't wanna be told that by an old hag who eavesdrops!"

"What'd you say?!"

"Why don't you find an old geezer to..."

Though he was far, Ozaki sighed.

* * *

 **Kunihiro Residence:**

Ritsuko was fixing dinner for Dr. Ozaki since he was working the late shift, again. Her little sister, Midori, noticed.

Midori, "Wow! It smells good!"

When she tried taking a piece of sandwich, Ritsuko pinched her hair to stop her. "Don't sneak a bite, Midori."

"Geez...you're stingy."

"The doctor is staying overnight at the clinic. Setsuko from the construction company is staying at the clinic. So I'm dropping off some snacks for him."

"Setsuko is sick, too? There's something wrong with that family. One after another..."

"Yeah..."

"In any case, you're diligent, aren't you, Sis? It's something the younger Mrs. Ozaki should do, right? She's back, isn't she? I saw her car today."

"Kyouko isn't someone who'd do things like that."

"Then, what about the elder Mrs. Ozaki?"

"The Junior Monk is helping the doctor overnight at the clinic."

"Oh...The elder Mrs. Ozaki doesn't like the temple because they're ranked higher than the Ozakis."

"Exactly. Well then, see you later."

Out the door, she stopped by the doghouse of her dog, Taro.

"Taro, would you like to go for a walk, too?"

He just lay there.

"Geez...fine. I'll go by myself."

* * *

 **Ozaki clinic:**

Dr. Ozaki was curious. "I wonder...what abilities they have."

Seishin, "Hm?"

"I wonder if they could transform into bats or go through walls..."

Connor was also there. "Going through walls is what ghosts do. And only certain Vampires can shapeshift."

Ozaki, "Well...In things like movies, they use crosses to ward them off, don't they? Crosses and garlic. They show no reflection in mirrors. Vulnerable to sunlight..."

Seishin closed the book he was reading.

Connor, "Depends on the type of vampire when it comes to the first two, they actually do have reflections, and there are Daywalker variants. They do have enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and eyesight. They also have accelerated healing, and immortality.""

Seishin, "The image of vampires we have is all based on fiction."

Ozaki, "But in this village, there're those who kill people by sucking their blood. Right?"

Connor, "That's if they choose to kill them. They're more like vampire bats in Central America; They take the blood they need to survive. If we really think about it, they're as subject to the laws of nature as everything else."

* * *

 **Halfway there:**

Ritsuko froze to the sight of something unsettling.

* * *

 **Ritsuko's POV:**

Can't be...

* * *

Ozaki, "If we can capture even one of them, it'll speed things up. We'd dissect them or something and..."

Seishin, "Dissect?! Hold on a sec!"

Connor left already.

Seishin, "Suppose, just suppose, vampires exist...If they're no different from before their death, except the suck blood, then..."

Before Seishin could finish, scratching was heard. Like nails on a chalkboard. Ozaki and Seishin went into the recovery room, and saw a startling sight; Setsuko's eyes opened, but she didn't seem awake at all.

"I'm here."

Ozaki, "Seishin, this is the second floor, right?"

Seishin, "Yeah."

"Outside the window, there's..."

"Right, there's no foothold."

"Then...that's..."

They moved closer to the window. In a quick pull, Ozaki opened the blinds. The culprit was Nao. She appeared to be levitating. Seishin could not believe his eyes.

Setsuko, "I'm right here!"

Ozaki, "Nao!"

Seishin, "How can this be...?!"

Nao slowly lowered back to the ground. Ozaki then burst open the window and yelled at her, "This is my clinic! I will not allow you to enter without permission. Beat it already!"

* * *

 _ **This is, so far, the longest chapter in the story.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	21. The Birth of NIGHTMARE

**Chapter 19: The Birth of Nightmare**

Setsuko was beginning to show recovery; she regained her appetite, and started regaining color. However, Dr. Ozaki knew that the Okiagari were not going to give up _that_ easily.

Ritsuko, "Good morning, Setsuko. Today, I made breakfast for you."

Setsuko, "Oh, good morning. Thank you, Ritsuko."

"You look better than yesterday. The color is coming back to your face, too."

"I was able to sleep well last night."

"That's good."

Ozaki, "But you woke up in the middle of the night, didn't you?"

Setsuko, "Oh?"

"You spoke quite clearly for someone talking in their sleep. I thought there was someone in here."

"Oh no...Sleep talking? I'm embarrassed. Come to think of it, I might've had a dream."

"A dream?"

"A dream about Nao coming back. I wonder if it's because she was on my mind since we're having her forty-ninth day memorial service soon. I remember now. I wonder if it was the day before yesterday or the day before that day... I had a vivid dream around that time, too. I wonder if it was really a dream...I feel like...I feel like it really happened. I'm scared..."

It became clear to the doctor that this was not going to end.

"Calm down."

"I'd be so happy if Nao would come back. And if Susumu and Mikiyasu would come back, but..."

"Setsuko..."

Ritsuko looked at him for his sudden attitude change.

"I'll save you for sure, so...!"

* * *

 **Yuuki/Koide residence:**

Natsuno and Connor were putting up charms and talismans throughout his room; he learned about Shizuka Matsuo's visit two nights ago.

Natsuno, "So, these will keep all but Tatsumi out?"

Connor, "Him and Megumi."

"How is that possible?"

"She had a good luck charm buried on top of her coffin; it grants immunity towards holy items like these."

"I see."

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Kyouko, "Are you alive? Do you wanna have a bean-paste bun? Here."

Ozaki was fast asleep in his chair; he hadn't slept for two nights in a row. Kyouko sighed, and took a bite out of the bun.

"I'm so bored...It sucks when the family you married into has only one man on the verge of death from exhaustion and a demonic mother-in-law."

In the same room, was a "younger" girl; her skin was practically see-through, and she carried a giant ring with blades around it. "Oh believe me darling, this entire town needs some livening up."

"You're right there, Tira."

"And it must be terrifying having to live with such a cruel mother...isn't it?" Tira had a rather creepy smile on her face. "The only thing he's useful for is money. You should have an affair with him."

"If only it were that simple..." Kyouko walked out the door and saw a younger, blue-haired man out near the gazebo. "Do you wanna have a bean-paste bun?"

The young man said, "Sure!"

When they walked in, Tira walked up to the man, and whispered into his ear "I gotcha a free ticket, Tatsumi. TeHeHe!"

Tatsumi, _"Well...she's...rather...wierd! Still, she might've helped me out with this one._ "

* * *

 **Near mountain entrance:**

Masao was sitting there, remembering how he was turned. He couldn't forget it. Just then, he saw Chizuka running past him.

Masao, "What's up, Shizuka? You seem to be making a lot of noise though."

Shizuka, "We want nothing to do with a hatchling like you! Wait quietly for someone to bring you food!"

She sounded rather rude.

* * *

 **Masao:**

That Shizuka. Just because she was resurrected before me, she acts like my superior.

But what is it? What's with that gathering...

* * *

Tatsumi came in on a motorcycle, and turned to face the others.

Tatsumi, "Alright! It seems as though we've got ourselves a little issue. Setsuko, Nao's current victim, has been administered to the Ozaki clinic. At least, that's what they're saying, but it seems that Dr. Ozaki's become aware of us."

Everyone was murmuring.

"But how does he know?"

"Maybe it's because he's a doctor."

Tatsumi continued, "The Kirishikis want this done, and they want it done quickly. I don't wanna take any chances, everybody here will attack the clinic TONIGHT! I'll be coming along as well. You will follow my orders to the letter."

He then turned towards Shizuka, "Shizuka, how's our other plan coming along?"

Shizuka, "Everything is set. If I'm right, Natsuno Yuuki shouldn't live to see another day."

This, of course, alarmed Megumi. "Yuuki?!" she then turned to her superior. "Wait! What are you going to do to him?! Don't you lay a finger on him!"

Unfortunately, Tatsumi refused. "No, that we can't allow. Like Ozaki, the Yuuki boy also knows we exist."

Nao, "What's wrong, Megumi? If he rises up, you two will be together, forever."

Megumi lashed out, "What are you talking about? Susumu and Mikiyasu didn't rise! They're rotting!" But then, she snapped back to her senses, thanks to Connor's teachings when she was alive.

Nao broke down, in tears. "You don't have to be so cruel—I was just trying to comfort you..."

"I'm sorry...but that's exactly why I don't wanna risk it."

Tatsumi resumed, "Here's the deal; we still haven't turned enough people yet. That's why we can't afford the villagers to find out. I'm sorry Megumi."

Megumi, "Then...Then at least let me do it!"

"I can't do that."

"That's not fair!"

"Quiet! Not another word about my strategy. If you continue to do so, you will be purged from our ranks. I have high hopes for you...I don't wanna be disappointed."

Megumi was still not okay with the thought, but eventually, she reluctantly complied. "I...understand."

"Ok! Then let's go!"

* * *

 **Masao:**

Natsuno's going to die? They're going to kill him?

Shall I do it?

No, impossible. It's impossible after all. It was a few days after I rose before I could attack a person.

Plus, Tatsumi's scary. Yeah...he's scary.

* * *

 **Suddenly,**

"Masao!" A deep, distorted voice was calling Masao, "Who's there?"

"I have been searching for you, Masao." This actually encouraged him to move towards a village shrine, and saw a giant sword in the center, though his shiki instincts were trying to keep him away, until a fiery figure manifested from it. "Should I...should I know you? Wait, your hand...I remember it."

"I...am... **Inferno** —the demon incarnation of this sword called **Soul Edge**."

Masao was shocked at what he heard—demons couldn't be real, and yet here was a manifestation of a dark, evil force right in front of him. What's more, the sword changed from what looked like a Holy sword, into an intriguing flesh-covered blade with a giant eyeball imbedded in it.

"Why me?" Masao wanted to understand Inferno's intentions much more clearly.

"Even before your 'death'...you generated a powerful, dark energy...energy I want...energy I need!" Inferno was becoming more and more persuasive, "Tell me...Who do you hate...what do you desire...what do you fear?"

Masao told the demon everything, including the fact that Natsuno Yuuki was being targeted, and he was too scared to do it himself, "Think again...Natsuno Yuuki will live! He will never die!" this shocked Masao. "If you want him dead—truly dead—then...Join with me, and I will make you...UNSTOPPABLE!"

With that said, Masao—smiling, and without hesitation—grabbed the handle of **Soul Edge**.

 **Inferno** began to eat away at his soul, and feed on his hatred, fear, anger, and every other dark emotion. But this host was different—unwittingly, the minds of Masao and **Inferno** fused, as did their voices, and bodies.

Masao Murako was no more. He had become the dreaded, azure-clad knight of darkness— **NIGHTMARE**.

"HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa! I shall infect this world...with DARKNESS!"

With new power at his disposal, the new **Nightmare** summoned a flaming, skeletal horse to ride—ready to start his reign of terror, and seek out the missing shards.

* * *

 _ **I know what you're thinking; "I thought only a strong warrior could be turned into NIGHTMARE!" Well, Inferno actually feeds on his host's negative emotions to turn them into NIGHTMARE. Anyways, Masao's transformation isn't perfect at all. Sure, his body is far more powerful, but soon(Spoiler alert)that same power will corrupt his mind. This is because Masao became NIGHTMARE by his own will.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	22. Invasion

**Chapter 20: Invasion**

The vampires had arrived at the Ozaki Clinic to finish off Setsuko - so had a seven foot tall, skeletal demon carrying a huge scythe; **Abyss**. He came because he had heard that his Master, **Nightmare** , was back, and planned to nourish him with Setsuko's soul. Alongside him was a Lizardman, and Tira; **Nightmare** 's most loyal subject. Their reasons varied; **Abyss** had been defeated by **Nightmare** fair and square. In his eyes, he owed him his loyalty. Tira greatly worshipped him. But Lizardman wanted the curse he was suffering from(He was slowly losing his humanity)to be undone, so he reluctantly obeyed **Soul Edge** in order to do so.

 **Abyss** , "Are you certain that this is the place where that old woman is being held?"

toTira, "It is...You seem to forget that I was the one who informed you of our lord's resurrection."

"I have not forgotten our magnificent lord was in need of souls. Hence, we shall wait for the vampires to bring her out, and drain her blood. Then, and only then will her soul emerge to be harvested."

* * *

 **Yuuki/Koide Residence:**

Natsuno noticed that all of the religious items on the walls in his room were missing; and his first guess was his father.

Natsuno, "Quick question, do you know what happened to all the crosses and talismans hanging in my room?"

Mr. Yuuki, "Yeah, I threw them out. They're gone."

"You did?!"

"They don't belong in this house. You know I feel about that religious and superstitious stuff. I want you to stay away from things like that."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Setsuko's husband had already left after Dr. Ozaki insisted that she stay at least one more night.

Later,

Seishin was staying again.

Ozaki, "It looks like she's finally asleep; It seems like she's free from that group's hypnotism. She was very disturbed."

Seishin, "Will Nao come today too?"

"Who knows? I think...that she will come! It'd be better if we knew their weakness or something."

"Now that you've mentioned it, I just remembered. There's a legend about vampires. A vampire can't enter a house or building, unless it's invited."

"Invited?"

"In other words, 'Please come visit my home' or a similar invitation. A home with an invitation becomes an 'open house' to them."

"Then Nao didn't come inside yesterday because..."

"Yeah. If that's the case, we're safe, but..."

Suddenly, the power went off—It was zapped from outside by **Abyss** to give the okiagari an advantage.

Seishin, "Blackout?!"

Dr. Ozaki peeked through the blinds. "No...The lights are still on in the village."

Ozaki, "They're here."

"They might be able to see in the dark. We're at a disadvantage in the dark. If I remember right, you have an old power generator downstairs, right? I'll go turn it on."

"Wait, Seishin. I'll go."

"I'll be fine."

"Do you know where it is?"

"We used to explore the clinic when we were kids, right?"

As Seishin made his way down the staircase, Ozaki kept an eye on Setsuko.

A voice called to her, "Mother..." Just like last night, Setsuko's eyes snapped open.

Ozaki, "Ah!"

The voice called to her again, "Can you hear me, Mother? Come outside!"

Setsuko rose from the bed, Ozaki tried to stop her. "Setsuko!"

"I have to go. Nao is calling me." This left him shocked, then he rushed to the window, and opened the blinds. However, Setsuko went through the door. "Don't!"

Downstairs, the door slammed shut on Seishin, and then his attention was drawn towards the windows. It was Megumi.

Seishin, "Megumi!" Behind her were more of the people who died, yet not all. "Wha..." the Junior Monk stepped back, until he realized something. "Why aren't you coming in and attacking me?"

Upstairs, Ozaki was still trying to stop Setsuko. "If you go, you're gonna get killed! Pull yourself together!"

Downstairs, "You guys can't come inside, can't you?"

Megumi, "Oh, we can come in...if we're invited." She then put her finger on her lips to shush Seishin, and whispered, "Don't tell Tatsumi about our meeting, please."

Upstairs, "Setsuko! Snap out of it!" Ozaki spotted another individual behind him via the reflection of the window, only too late.

Downstairs, Seishin was alerted when he heard a thud.

Upstairs, Ozaki was on the floor, and a foot pinned him down—Tatsumi.

"Hi. Nice to finally meet you, Dr. Ozaki."

"You...How..." Then, his attention was brought back to Setsuko. "Setsuko!" Tatsumi picked up the doctor—"My name is Tatsumi."—and thrusted his knee into the latter's abdomen, and released him, as Ozaki collapsed to the floor.

Seishin, "Toshio! Did something happen?!" Tatsumi stomped on Ozaki again, and went to Setsuko, "-oops."

Seishin, "-Toshio!"

Tatsumi, "We won't kill you. We've been told not to mess with you yet, doctor." Much to the two's alarm, he held Setsuko in his arms, kicked open the window, and jumped out, "Well, let's go now."

Ozaki, "S-Setsuko!"

On the ground, Nao ran up to her mother-in-law. "Mother!"

Tatsumi set her onto the ground.

Setsuko, "Nao!"

Nao wrapped her arms around Setsuko, opened her mouth, revealing her fangs, and bit her neck.

Seishin, "Ah!"

Ozaki, "Setsuko!"

Then, the other Okiagari came to do the same, draining Setsuko's blood.

Tatsumi, "Ok, let's go back to the mountain pass. After that, we hope that she resurrects and becomes one of us."

Nao, "Yeah!"

They began heading back—all, except Megumi.

* * *

 **Megumi:**

I had to finish that job quickly. Now, I have to find Yuuki!

I won't let anybody kill him.

If somebody has to kill him, then I'll...I'll do it myself!

* * *

She turned, and ran the other direction.

Dr. Ozaki and Seishin approached Setsuko's body.

Seishin, "The Okiagari probably planned to finish her in one shot tonight...after realizing we were hiding Setsuko here...so that it wouldn't become troublesome."

Ozaki, "I promised that I'd save her...Dammit!" He then screamed in rage, "Hyaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

* * *

 **Halfway to the Mountain pass:**

"Oh?"

"Hm?"

"Where's Megumi?"

"Oh yeah. She's not here."

"Maybe she went on ahead of us?"

Tatsumi, "Don't worry about it...I know where she went. I'll take care of it."

* * *

 **Roof of the Ozaki clinic:**

 **Abyss** , who was holding Setsuko's soul, "It looks like your plan worked perfectly, Tira."

Tira, "Why state the obvious?"

 **Nightmare** appeared. "So, it begins now. The end of this village, permanently. Then, the end of the world." A raven landed on his shoulder. "Does the Doctor know of us yet, Tira?"

Tira, "He doesn't suspect a thing about us."

"Excellent. Keep it that way, until I have recovered the other shards. Then, unleash the army."

His loyal minions laughed sinisterly.

 _"Prepare yourself, Natsuno Yuuki."_

* * *

 **Elsewhere:**

Megumi was rushing to find Natsuno, completely ignoring cuts she received along the way.

* * *

 **Megumi:**

I don't care about attacking Ozaki!

Yuuki!

No way, it's not gonna happen; I'd never let anyone else attack Yuuki, he's all mine!

* * *

 **I was planning on having both this one, and the next one put together, but I decided to just do the invasion on the Ozaki clinic. The next chapter will have a different outcome, I can tell you that much.**

 **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**


	23. Reunion

**Chapter 21: Reunion**

Natsuno was in his room, sitting on his bed, and holding a wrench as a weapon—the okiagari were targeting him.

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

Matsuo Shizuka from Sakaimatsu...After saying something about her brother coming by, she disappeared. That was two days ago.

Maybe they won't come. No, that's wishful thinking.

Will it be him?

But there's no way I'd just let them attack me. I'll fight back! I have to try!

* * *

It was midnight when the window started tapping. Also, by Natsuno's side was a cross he made at least a week before.

When the tapping stopped, a shadow appeared, and tried opening the window.

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

That shadow isn't Shimizu's. Maybe it is him.

He's not getting in here, the window's locked.

* * *

The shadow seemingly gave up, and walked away. However, it seemed to actually be heading to the backdoor. Natsuno thought he heard the okiagari turning the knob.

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

"What?! I'm sure I locked it earlier! Unless...Did Dad unlock it?!"

Flashback:

Mr. Yuuki, "Look at this, Natsuno. Isn't it wonderful? I heard there is no crime in this village and the villagers don't lock their doors when they go to bed. I'll have you get used to that kind of life. From now on, no more locking doors."

 **Natsuno:**

That's just like him. He's always been like that. No...Both of "them" are.

I was born when they were still in college, they were both so young. They didn't believe in the institution of marriage, so naturally they never married.

It's preferably my father's surname, Yuuki. But because they never wed, it's listed as Koide on the family register, my mother's last name.

Those two reject social norms—they think their ideas are the only correct ones.

The reason they decided to move here was because they thought it'd be a nice change in pace, good for the soul and artistic inspiration.

What a load of crap! I'm getting out of this village no matter what! I'll be accepted by a college in a big city and get away from my parents! I can't die here, not now!

* * *

In reality, the shadow returned to the window.

 _"Is he coming back here?"_

Natsuno stood by it, readying the wrench.

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

If you want to, come on! This time, I'll capture you and bring you to the villagers!

* * *

He was shocked to hear a familiar voice.

"Natsuno."

 _"That voice!"_

"It's me."

Natsuno slumped his arms down and dropped the wrench.

 _"Only somebody close to me would call me by my first name, and I know that voice."_

He slid open the blind.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

Natsuno turned his head to the lock.

 _"I shouldn't—it's obviously a better idea to stay in here. Obviously."_

And yet, he unlocked it, and opened the window.

"Hey."

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Natsuno by the wrist, and tried to pull him out, but Natsuno managed to free himself only to see who it was.

"Tohru..."

The blonde turned and ran off crying in shame.

"Tohru, wait!"

* * *

 **Elsewhere:**

Nightmare wad on the hunt for Natsuno. "Your end has come, Natsuno Yuuki."

Megumi spotted him without being spotted herself, and was alarmed by it.

When she was far away from the azure knight, she found Tohru, crying.

"Tohru."

She approached him. "So, Tatsumi selected you to do it. He's such a sadist." She didn't bother bringing up the knight.

Tohru, "He said if I didn't do it, they'd attack Aoi and Tamotsu instead. I couldn't let that happen to them, not after what they went through."

She wrapped her arms around him, much to his surprise.

"So, he threatened the ones you cherish the most as well."

"Shimizu..."

Megumi pulled out the note Natsuno wrote her, to Tohru's amazement.

"After what I did to you, this made me realize that what I did...was wrong."

She had offered him a shoulder to cry on.

"I got you both into this mess, I should get you out."

"Huh?!"

She stood up, but Tohru halted her.

"Shimizu, don't! If you act on your own, who knows what Tatsumi will do to you..."

She took his hand off her shoulder.

"It's my problem, not yours. This has to end."

* * *

 **Edge of the woods:**

Natsuno searched for Tohru.

"Tohru, where are you? Tohru!"

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

First, Megumi. Now, Tohru?!

I didn't know he would...No, I didn't want to know—if there was ever a chance either Tohru or her would come back, it would be as one of "them".

They shouldn't have to go through this.

Megumi, she had her life ahead of her—she even said that she felt like she belonged somewhere when I came.

And Tohru, he was good; he had his pick of friends, yet he chose me. I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with, but he didn't care.

All of my good memories in this village have them both, even though Megumi came later. They deserve better.

* * *

He approached a well that he and Tohru came once, and put his hand in it.

"His hand was as cold as this water."

In the treeline, Megumi was watching him.

"Yuuki, I want you to be safe, but..."

Suddenly, Tatsumi came up to Natsuno.

"Hi! If I'm correct, you're Natsuno Yuuki, right?"

"You..."

"It's the first time I've greeted you since moving here!"

"I know, you're Tatsumi, the servant at the Kirishiki household...so what did you want?"

"You seem like a really smart guy. You're the first villager who found out about us. You're also quite brave. After seeing something like that, most people would run away alone. But you didn't. It's because you're too nice. You've only been here for a year but you couldn't abandon this village. Even though they are few, you do have good friends here."

"Hmph, I guess I have."

"But, this is troubling. It'd be nice if you were the type to hide and shiver under your bed. But, like Dr. Ozaki, you decided to hunt us. And we can't have hunters."

"So, you want to kill me. That's fine, but don't think I'm going to just lay around for you to do it. You're just gonna have to catch me first."

"Sorry! While it is a nice night for that, I have something else in mind!"

Natsuno paused for a moment.

Tatsumi, "Alright Megumi, you can come out now!"

Natsuno couldn't believe his eyes, she was right there.

Megumi, "Tatsumi...I..."

Tatsumi, "Don't worry about it. I'll make an exception. I had predicted it would turn out this way."

"Eh?"

"It's just you two now. Do whatever you like."

She turned her attention towards Natsuno.

"Yuuki...please understand..."

Natsuno snapped at that moment—not just for the fact that Megumi, whom he had just discovered feelings for, was a vampire now; but also the fact that she was being manipulated by Tatsumi.—towards Tatsumi.

He clenched his hand into a tight fist, "You know, Tatsumi...you're right..."

Tatsumi, "'Bout what?"

Natsuno turned towards him, "I also have something else in mind!"

He approached Tatsumi, and punched him in the face. "Hngh-gah!"

The force was so strong, it easily knocked Tatsumi onto the ground quickly. The Day walker also sustained a broken nose, and even spit out blood from his mouth.

After a moment of silence...

Tatsumi, "OW! That really friggin' hurt, y'know!"

Natsuno, "You don't know what hurts at all!"

Suddenly, Megumi grabbed him, her hand covering his mouth, and bit his neck. When she finished, she tearfully, and quietly told him, "Follow your free will." Natsuno then fell to the ground—He had been bitten.

Suddenly, Nightmare landed in between Megumi and Natsuno, and Tatsumi. At first, he prepared his blade to kill Natsuno on the spot. However, something else caught his attention; the well. The azure night smashed his hand into the well, and pulled out something—the first missing shard of Soul Edge. "The first piece...it is mine!" He held it in the air, energized it, and put it back onto the sword. The blade changed shape, growing spikes around the eye, and even shifting color—it darkened. At the same time, Nightmare himself changed; his abdomen grew spikes pointing straight down on the upper half, and straight up on the lower half—like razor sharp teeth. His shoulders sprouted frills, the horn on his head lengthened and two flared crests on the sides of his head formed, his deformed arm grew armor plating, and his heels became spiked.

"Now then..."

However, he saw that during that time, they had disappeared, enraging him.

"Raaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!"

* * *

 _ **Nightmare just discovered the first shard, he's far more powerful than before. If you read this chapter carefully, you noticed that I greatly altered the events. That's for obvious pairing reasons.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	24. A Twist of Fate

**Chapter 22: Twist of Fate**

Megumi was walking back, after having already brought Natsuno back to his house.

"And where do you think you're going?"

She turned and saw Connor. "Well..."

She was confused, "None of your business. Why aren't you scared? Didn't you..."

He completed the sentence for her, "Know that you died? Yes. But, I've seen vampires before. Though they were far more ill-tempered."

"So...you're not suprised or scare?!"

"Hmph."

Megumi began continuing to her destination, but was once again stopped by Connor. "One last thing...You know Kaori Tanaka?"

"Don't tell me she has her eyes on him!"

Connor simply chuckled. "For one, she can never even think about doing that - hell, she even gave him your postcard. Second," he then pulled out the charm Kaori got for her. She covered her mouth and gasped, while her eyes started tearing up. "Kaori got this for you as a birthday present; For fulfilling your dream of leaving for the city."

 _"Kaori...you got that for me? I never realized you cared that much."_

Megumi took it, put it around her neck, and stuck it into her dress.

"But...what about...Yuuki?"

"There is another way."

* * *

Ikumi, the self-proclaimed village shaman, was extremely superstitious. She stated to the other elders that Kanemasa was infected with bad luck.

She was currently tending to a frightened couple, who came to her.

Ikumi was praying in front of her indoor bonfire.

Ikumi, "At the beginning of this year, I dreamed...that there were jet-black clouds floating above Yamairi. That's how I knew...that something bad would definitely happen in Yamairi."

Man, "I-It's true that all three residents died and Yamairi was wiped out."

"I grew restless so I offered a special prayer...that nothing bad should happen. And then, a gecko appeared during the prayer! Not just once! Twice! It's Kanemasa...Direction wise, it wasn't good to build a house like that on the Kanemasa land. More bad things will happen!"

The couple turned their heads toward each other and nodded.

Man, "It's a widespread rumor that you have psychic power. Could you please write up amulet so that nothing bad will happen to us?"

Ikumi, "It can't be helped, I guess." She then handed them a paper amulet to them. "Put this on the front door or a window."

Man, "Oh! Thank you very much!"

"3,000 yen per amulet."

* * *

Ozaki Clinic:

Kiyomi, "Yasumori Construction is now down to one...Tokujiro is all alone."

Satoko, "Since Setsuko was getting better, I thought she might be cured."

Ritsuko, "Don't you think...the doctor was acting kind of strange?"

Yuki, "Acting kind of strange?"

"Up until now, when his patients died, you could see how frustrated he was. But today, he looked calm, as if he had come to his senses...No...maybe not...Rather, it seemed that he was possessed by something."

The phone rang, Ritsuko was the one who answered again.

"Hello. This is Ozaki Clinic. Oh, it's you, Towada..."

The X-ray technician was quitting in fear, like everyone else.

Ritsuko immediately thought back to what she saw the other night.

 _"No...What am I thinking? What Towada is scared of is the epidemic."_

Yuki, "So Towada is quitting?"

"Yeah."

Satoko, "I think it's just natural."

Kiyomi, "Yeah, since he works in the admin section, he probably doesn't know as much about how to deal with an epidemic as we nurses do."

Another room,

Takae was sweeping the hall.

"Kyouko! Kyouko! You could at least help me clean!"

Kyouko came halfway through the door.

"I am very sorry, Mother."

"Oh? You're meek today."

"Yes. I heard something wonderful."

"What is it?"

"You know about it, don't you? Sotoba's very first convenience store on the national road..."

"What's wonderful about it? It went out of business. It was a mistake to build something out of place like that in the village."

"I heard that the doctor at Kanemasa will open up a clinic there."

"Wha...What did you say?!"

"Hah!"

Living room,

Kyouko, "Ahahahaha! That was fun, she almost had a fit! It's thanks to you. Thanks for the interesting story."

Tatsumi was in the room, holding a glass.

"Sure! Glad you could get a kick out of it."

* * *

Creole:

The usuals—Mr. Yuuki, Hirosawa, Masaki Tashiro—and the owner and runner, Hasegawa, were discussing what was causing all the deaths in Sotoba recently. Connor was in the same place, trying to enjoy his meal, but was distracted by them.

Mr. Yuuki, "Epidemic?"

Hirosawa, "From the death toll, that's the only conclusion I can come up with. It's abnormal for many children to die like this, too. Also, I'm concerned about the strange movings."

"Strange movings?"

"Yeah. A student was suddenly absent one day. At a later date, someone who claims to be the student's close relative calls in and says that they moved. There've already been eight cases like that."

"Eight cases!"

Connor, _"They're probably dead."_

Hirosawa, "Maybe they've noticed the epidemic and ran away."

Tashiro, "That's why we called Toshio here." Connor nearly choked. "In any event, he's a doctor, so..."

Ozaki entered the café, smoking another cigarette.

"Hey! Looks like the regulars are here, huh?" He then took a seat.

Tashiro, "What the heck? You look terrible."

"Leave me alone. I was born with this face.—Hasegawa, some coffee. Strong."

Hasegawa, "Okay."

Tashiro, "Are you in some sort of a situation where you can't afford to sleep?"

Ozaki, "Huh?" He turned to the other guys, "What did you wanna talk to me about?"

"Ah...well...how should I put it...Many people have been dying lately, right?"

"Yeah."

"Couldn't it be an epidemic?"

The doctor was silent.

"I-If you're keeping it a secret for a reason, we'll cooperate. We'll keep this to ourselves."

"It's not an epidemic. An epidemic is caused by an existing infectious disease as defined by the Infectious Disease Prevention Law."

"Then, could it be a new type? That'd be terrible."

Ozaki started drinking his coffee, and spoke when he took a breath.

"I can't say anything right now. I can't speak carelessly, so..."

"But, Toshio!"

Ozaki finished his coffee, and started to leave.

"Well...If someone in my family dies, I'd have them cremated."

Outside,

 _"This is fine. For now, let them think that it's an epidemic. Either way, we don't have much time left."_

* * *

Ikumi's house:

Ikumi, "Okiagari. The people at Kanemasa are okiagari."

Ikumi's daughter, Tamae, was certain that her mother was starting to go crazy.

"What? What're you saying, Mom?"

"Although the Kanemasa people, and the sword, **Soul Edge** are the roots of all evils, Muroi from the temple, Dr. Ozaki...the big shots in this village are doing nothing about it! I have no choice. I'm the only one who knows their true identity. I have to act in order to save the village!"

Tamae was starting to show that she was worried.

"Stop it! People mock not just you, but me, too, since you're always saying weird stuff! I...I..." She lay herself on the floor, crying.

Outside, Tira was listening to them. "This woman might be a real problem."

Ikumi, _"She's just like that man. I was forced to marry a man who was, timid, stupid, arrogant, and mediocre. I felt neither happiness nor honor in my life. The two sons I had, died within a few years after birth. The only one left was an ugly daughter who doesn't have a shred of cleverness, just like her father. When my husband. Who was like a hindrance to me, died, my life as a woman was already over. However, it's different now. I will save the village!"_

* * *

In town:

Ikumi was thrown out of Ookawa's shop.

"Wh-What'd you do that for?!"

Old man Ookawa, "Don't ever come back!" Then he slid the doors shut.

"Don't you get it?! Your uncle died because the okiagari at Kanemasa attacked him!"

Two drunkards inside were joking around.

"Okiagari, huh?"

"Is it okay, old man, to knock down a regular customer like that?"

Ookawa, "Regular? Customer? Has that stingy old hag ever bought a drop of alcohol?! If she bums from you guys and talks nonsense, that's a nuisance!"

Someone else in the shop, dressed like a bucaneer, spoke out.

"Ah! Those two have drank themselves drunk! Their judgment is impaired, mate."

Ikumi stomped, enraged, on the doors.

"You bastard! Don't make light of me!"

Atsushi arrived(Ikumi's bad behavior was the only thing he and his father ever saw eye-to-eye).

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

She turned to him. "It's none of your business."

Atsushi kicked, barely missing her face, but alarming her enough for her to lose her balance.

"You kicked the store door just now, didn't you?!"

His father yelled through the door, "Atsushi! Ignore her!"

"Tsk!" He then grabbed the water bucket, and threw it at her, as she ran away.

"Beat it already! Or you'll end up having to drink your fill of this!"

"D-Don't!"

"Here!"

 _"Damn you all! Just wait and see! I'll make them realize who's right soon!"_

* * *

Meanwhile, Mountain pass hideout:

Masao, who was able to retract his **Nightmare** armor, was being informed of Ikumi by Tira.

Tira, "She seems to know about the existence of the okiagari."

Masao, "See to it that Kanemasa takes care of it. It must be done quickly...and quietly."

* * *

 _ **Things are starting to get real. Another thing, That stranger in the Ookawa shop is Cervantes.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	25. Right or Wrong

**Chapter 23: Right or Wrong**

Dr. Ozaki was about to unearth Setsuko's grave when Seishin came.

Ozaki, "Now..."

Seishin, "Toshio..."

The doctor turned to see the monk.

"Seishin! Don't scare me like that! I thought it was okiagari!"

He then proceeded to dig.

"I stayed here after Setsuko's burial today...as I thought you'd come to open up her grave."

"Yeah? Good. Come and help me."

"What're you gonna do after opening it up?"

"Of course, I'll check and see if she will rise up. And, if she does rise up..."

"If she does...?"

"I'll bring her to the villagers...and tell them that these things are the real cause!"

"Toshio..."

"And, I'll run all sorts of experiments on her. What's their weakness? What can kill them? I'll bring everything to light!"

"I don't think Tokujiro would allow you to do that to her."

"Huh?"

"In addition, they looked no different than before they died. It's true that okiagari attack people. But is it really okay for us to take the matter into our own hands just because they're murderers?"

"Don't confuse the okiagari's attacks with murderers! There's no law to judge okiagari!"

"I know that...I know..."

Connor appeared out of nowhere, it seemed to be his natural talent.

"Actually, they aren't any different from their former selves. Except, of course, they need to feed on blood in order to survive."

Seishin, "Really?"

"These vampires aren't like the European ones I've faced, in terms of behavior. Mainly, the European ones were always murderous in both lives—they had to be put down; they had no hope. But these, they're struggling. They're trying to keep their humanity."

Ozaki, "You're just getting scared! Their deaths are terrible but people's deaths are not terrible?!"

"Any death is terrible."

"If we let a single one of them live, the deaths will grow in a chain reaction! Are you okay with the village dying out?!"

Seishin, shocked by what Ozaki had said to the two of them, looked like he was going to faint for a moment.

Ozaki, "Seishin?!"

Instead, the Junior Monk ran off. "Sorry, Toshio!"

"Hey!"

Connor, "That isn't what I meant. I meant you should try considering alternative methods of dealing with them; ways that don't involve killing them." With that, Connor walked away.

* * *

Later at night, ancient temple:

Seishin, still in shock from what Ozaki had said to him, was kneeling in his hideout. Connor, who was in the same place at the same time, was keeping an eye on him, when Sunako came in.

Sunako, "Mr. Muroi..."

Seishin, "Sunako..."

Connor turned, and saw her.

Sunako, "It's gotten cooler. Fall is now here...I can tell since the scent of the night is suddenly changing."

Connor, "So, I'm not the only one who noticed."

Sunako looked at Connor for a few seconds, then turned back to Seishin.

Sunako, "Are you feeling down again?"

Seishin, "You came to cheer me up today again?"

"Yes, since I'm your fan. Say, I thought I'd ask you this the next time I see you. What kind of novel are you writing right now?"

"It's about a man who wanders about the wilderness. An older brother who killed his younger brother is exiled from his town and wanders about the wilderness. And his dead younger brother follows him. It's a story like that."

"Does the dead younger brother do so after becoming a ghost?"

"It's a little different from ghosts. It's "shiki."

"Shiki?"

"A corpse demon. It's the name I gave to corpses that rose from their graves."

"So they're different from ghosts?! Unlike ghosts, they have bodies! They didn't come back to life. They have a corpse for a body! But they're not just corpses like zombies. They have souls and are equal to humans, right?"

Connor, "If they try to keep their humanity. You have to keep in mind that Heaven and Hell both exist on an astral plane of existence. If the person's soul has been to Heaven, they can. If they've been to Hell however, they might become something far worse. It really depends on how hard you try."

"But they're different from humans, an existence of a completely different nature. _Shiki...That's good. That has a nice ring to it!_ The motif is from Genesis in the Bible, right?"

"Cain and Abel...The story about the older brother Cain killing his younger brother Abel out of fear."

Seishin, "Sunako...There's something I wanted to ask you, too, when I see you the next time."

"What is it?"

"Are you Abel?"

She swiftly approached Seishin from behind, preparing to bite him, only to be stopped by what he said next.

"I think...you're shiki."

After retracting her fangs, "You're indeed a romantic."

She and Connor both left.

Connor, "I knew you weren't human from day one, Sunako."

Sunako, "Well then..."

"Luckily for you, my target isn't shiki."

* * *

Next day, Afternoon:

Ikumi was gathering the few people who did believe her to expose Kanemasa. Dr. Ozaki had to intervene.

Ikumi, "Recently, you've been examining the patients who died, haven't you?!"

Ozaki, "Yeah."

"You know something, don't you? In front of everyone, say it...expose the okiagari's secret!"

"I'm not hiding anything, Ikumi."

"Don't lie, you quack!"

"It's true that I haven't been able to save many lives. I have no choice but to accept you calling me that. But I've never written the cause of death as okiagari on the death certificates."

"You're one of the village leaders, and yet you still won't do anything?!"

"I'm trying my best."

"Humph! You can just keep making excuses. I will save this village. I will drag the Kanemasa people out, I will expose the truth about them to the sunlight!"

"Okiagari is just a superstition passed down in the village. If the Kanemasa's...No, if Mr. Kirishiki goes along with your prank, I'll at least check his pulse to see if he's alive or not."

He was about to walk back in, when she stopped him.

"Oh yeah? Then come with me. See their true identity with your own eyes!"

He turned around.

* * *

Kanemasa:

Ikumi was banging on the gates with her fist, demanding the Kirishikis to come outside.

"Come out! I know who you really are! Okiagari! Open the door!"

Her attention was caught by Tatsumi, who came through a side door.

"Excuse me...What is this fuss about?"

Ikumi drew her paper flails, and ran at him, screaming.

"Hiyaaaaaahhhh!"

"Yaahhahaaaaah!"

Tatsumi ran back inside.

"S-Scary!"

"Wait up! It's no use hiding!"

Ikumi began whipping her flails left and right.

"I'll expose your true identity! Be prepared! Gyeeeeeeehhhhh!"

The gate opened, and standing behind it were Mr. Kirishiki and Tatsumi.

"Now, show yourselves!"

Mr. Yuuki was in the crowd, he noticed Dr. Ozaki approaching.

Mr. Kirishiki, "Just what is going on? You all suddenly barge in and shout absurdities about us. Is that what passes for manners in this village? Forgive me for saying so, but I, Seishiro Kirishiki...am shocked!"

Everyone was in awe at the sight of him. Ikumi was confused.

"Wh-Why is he able to come out in the sun?" But she simply shook it off. "Being able to come outside during the day doesn't mean he isn't okiagari!"

She then put a talisman on him.

"Be gone!"

"What is this for?"

Ikumi was baffled, the charm wasn't working on him.

"I-I won't be fooled! Where are your wife and child?!"

He oriented his head to a window.

"They're over there. My wife and daughter have a serious illness that compromises their immune system. I apologize for not being able to bring them down here."

"You're trying to trick us, aren't you?!"

Dr. Ozaki approached. "You are a doctor in this village, right? Do you agree with her?"

Ozaki, "No. I'm sorry, Mr. Kirishiki. In this village, we bury our dead, so there's a legend about okiagari, the dead who come back to life. It seems like Ikumi thought that you guys are okiagari."

"Do I look dead to you?"

"No. Forgive me for asking this, but may I examine you to confirm it? If I do, I think Ikumi will accept it."

Everyone in the crowd nodded, just so they could get Ikumi to shut up.

"Sure."

Ozaki checked Mr. Kirishiki's outstretched arm for telltale signs of being alive; they were all present; he was, indeed, human.

"Ikumi, there's no doubt that Mr. Kirishiki is alive."

Everyone in the crowd bought that okiagari weren't real. Then Connor came up to her; he was one of many who heard her shouting, and he heard everything Dr. Ozaki said.

"Ikumi," he whispered, "you can't accuse someone of being something without solid evidence." and then walked away.

* * *

Night time:

Ikumi was furious; no one believed her now.

"Dammit! Why doesn't everyone get it?! It's so obvious that those people are okiagari!"

Suddenly, a young woman—possibly in her twenties—was banging on her door, crying "Help, Ikumi! Help! My house...! My family is being attacked by okiagari!"

"What?!"

"You were right! Help! Please hurry!"

Tamae, "Mom..."

Ikumi ignored her daughter, and ran out the door, "Leave it to me! Where's your house?!"

"The other side of Sannohashi Bridge."

Tamae, "Mom!" She then noticed something as the young woman left; she stopped crying completely—as if it were fake."

* * *

Sannohashi Bridge:

Ikumi, "I'll get you..."

She was then shot in the head—the shooter was the buccaneer from Ookawa's shop, Cervantes de Leon; a wraith.

The young woman stopped at the site, before turning to Cervantes.

"It was under control, you know."

The pirate simply laughed, "Haha! Believe me, lassie, I have me own reasons, too!"

He then put away his sword/gun hybrid. "Ye might need ta clean that up, now."

* * *

 _ **That's right, Cervantes killed Ikumi. Didn't see that one coming, did you.**_

 ** _Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow._**


	26. Regret

**Chapter 24: Regret**

Natsuno was sitting in a swing when Kaori, Akira, and Connor ran up to him.

Akira, "Natsuno! I was worried sick since we couldn't contact you yesterday! It was great for you to call us!"

Kaori, "Did something happen?"

Natsuno, "Not really."

Akira, "I see, but we made huge progress!"

Connor, "Though it wasn't any good!"

"Hey!...Anyways, today I intended on telling my friends and classmates about the people who revived."

* * *

Flashback:

"Listen here, everyone! People keep dying in the village, but..."

"Are you trying to talk about the 'okiagari' thing?"

"...Huh!?"

"Yeah! That creepy old hag from Mizuguchi marched into Kanemasa."

"'The Kanemasa people are okiagari! Be gone!'"

"But she went home after being told off by the family at Kanemasa, right? She was the one cast away!"

* * *

Akira, "I couldn't say anything else."

Kaori, "Yuuki, I wonder if the Kanemasa people aren't okiagari after all."

Natsuno, "Leave the village."

They were in shock.

"Get away from this village right away."

Kaori, "What do you mean?"

Natsuno pulled down his shirt collar, revealing the bite mark left by Megumi.

"You can't be!"

Akira, "Natsuno, that's not what I think it is, right?"

Connor, "Unfortunately, it is."

Natsuno, "They may be planning to turn this place into an okiagari village."

"We no longer know how many people have died since summer ended. Those who moved out are probably dead too. And then, some of those who died became okiagari."

"Sotoba was shut off from the outside world from the start. Outsiders wouldn't notice even if all the villagers were replaced by okiagari. That's why they chose this place. You guys are no exception. I was attacked, which means that you guys could also be attacked today. That's why you need to run away."

Akira refused, "No...I don't want to."

Kaori and Connor agreed with him, "Me neither...", "We're in this together!"

Natsuno, "You probably don't have time to hesitate."

Akira, "What about you, Natsuno?"

"There are still things I need to do."

"I'll help you! I'll do whatever I can!"

"No. It's too dangerous for you."

"Even if we run away, it's not like things would improve."

"It's better than staying here."

"But I don't want to! We can't just leave you here when you're in this condition. We won't run away!"

"You'll regret it."

"I'd rather regret staying here than regret running away."

Kaori nodded.

Natsuno walked through them. "Okay. But don't ever come near me again."

Kaori, "Yuuki?"

"The next time I see you, I may not be myself anymore."

* * *

 **Itou residence:**

 **Nightmare** burst through the door, finding an ill Tamae; the latest okiagari victim.

He grabbed her by the head, and overthrew the mind-control she was already under by brainwashing her(an inherited ability from Masao, only now stronger)before releasing his grip.

 **Nightmare** , "Sit up!"

She did—only for **Nightmare** to impale her with **Soul Edge** , and then he tore open the bonfire, finding the second missing piece of his sword. **Nightmare** then added it to said sword, after pulling it out of Tamae—the edges turned a fiery-red, a long, thin, violet jewel sprouted from down the center of the blade, even the eye changed into a dark blue color. **Nightmare** himself sprouted outward spikes on his deformed shoulder, three strips of a red, loin cloth-like substance dangled from under the front of his waist faulds, fins sprouted from the outsides of his knees, the horn on his forehead grew longer, and the side flairs on his head moved to the center of the top of his head, fusing into a single crest, resembling the plume on a Roman gladiator's helmet. The azure knight then took his leave.

* * *

 _ **This isn't Nightmare's first kill in the story, and certainly won't be the last. Things are starting to look grim, aren't they?**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	27. Betrayal

**Chapter 25: Betrayal**

Natsuno was wondering.

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

Megumi bit me the day before yesterday. But she didn't come yesterday.

If she were, I might not be able to move at all.

I never thought that having anemia was so tough.

Why didn't she come? Did she feel guilty? Will she come today? Or will it be Tohru?

* * *

He went outside to see—sure enough, it was Tohru.

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

So I see, not only is the field of vision great, but you can hide pretty well, too.

Megumi used to stare into my room like this, until I talked to her. That feels like a long time ago.

Incredible! When Tohru died and was placed inside a coffin, he looked nothing like his old self; just an empty shell without a soul.

But, this thing...is just like the Tohru I remember.

* * *

Natsuno rose out from behind the bushes, surprising Tohru.

Natsuno, "Were you looking for me?"

Tohru remained silent. Then Natsuno held up his homemade cross, which sparked a reaction from him.

"This thing, does it work? Or were you afraid of this thing when you were alive as well? Before this...when we were digging a grave, your comrade seemed afraid when he saw a charm. I thought that this thing might work, I just didn't know it'd be so effective!"

Now, Tohru spoke. "Natsuno..."

Natsuno's reaction was one of pure annoyance. "I told you to stop calling me that!" At the same time, he threw the cross at Tohru, hitting only the window, but buying Natsuno enough time to make a break. Tohru followed him.

"Can't you coexist with humans!? Why can't you just stop a people!?"

"It's impossible!"

"If you guys were to explain things clearly, there's bound to be someone who'd be willing to give you fresh blood! Won't the amount of blood return to normal after a few days!? Why do you have to attack humans!?"

"You wouldn't understand! Just like humans killing animals is approved in society, we, too approve the killing of humans."

Natsuno stopped.

"At first, everyone is disgusted. Afraid to bear the sin of killing people. Afraid to receive punishment for replenishing themselves with the life of another. But, once you realize that you won't be punished for killing people, you get used to the guilt pretty soon. The guilt of using humans for food. Aren't humans the same?"

A throwing knife hit the tree in front of Tohru, Connor came.

Connor, "That's not the same thing at all! What you do isn't predation, like humans. It's parasitism. You live off of human blood, but don't kill them in one shot, Tohru. Tatsumi just told you that to keep you in line!"

"Then, why do I get so hungry?!"

Natsuno, "Hungry?!"

Tohru, "It's an unbearable hunger, so much that it makes murder look like a small price to pay!"

Connor picked the shiki up by his shirt, and held him against a tree.

"Listen! If you actually do want to feed off of someone until they die, that's your choice, not Tatsumi's!"

He then released him, and walked away.

Natsuno reached into his back pockets, and pulled out a mallet and wooden stake.

"Even an animal struggles before it's death. If a cross works, then this will work, too."

"Wah...Natsuno..."

Natsuno couldn't do it, instead throwing them down.

"Stop being so absurd! Why can't you act more like a vampire, and less like the guy I used to know?!"

After a brief moment of silence—and when Tohru's stomach growled, Natsuno pulled up his right sleeve, and held out his arm.

"If you're hungry, then come have my blood! We'll figure out a plan. Connor's already working on an antidote. Even so, if you still want to kill others, then come suck my blood! We'll figure out a way to escape Tatsumi!"

"It's impossible to run away from Tatsumi..."

"It's worth a try!"

Tohru couldn't take the hunger pains anymore—he pinned Natsuno down on the ground, and bit his neck.

* * *

 **Yamairi:**

Megumi was trapped—Tatsumi had blown up the entrance wit dynamite to prevent anyone from aiding or escaping.

"A vampire village in the mountains. I've been chased into an even more remote area."

Tatsumi seemed to come out of nowhere.

"It's shiki. Didn't I tell you to address it this way? The Kirishiki's don't like the term 'vampire.'"

"Tatsumi."

"How 'bout it? Did you let things go about the attack on Natsuno?"

"I don't feel like it right now."

"Hm? Come to think of it, you're quite free now, aren't you?"

"Yes...do you need me to attack anyone?"

"Your friend, Kaori Tanaka!"

This shocked Megumi—Tatsumi was going to have her kill one of the very people she wanted to protect now.

"Kaori!?"

"It's her father. You should know who he is, right? Kaori Tanaka is very close to Natsuno Yuuki nowadays. Exchanging secrets, and teaming up against us."

 _"He's lying. Kaori isn't that kind of person."_

"If you're bothered about attacking your friend's father, we can find someone else..."

That alone made Megumi realize that the only way to protect Kaori was to hypnotize her father; to convince him to take his family and leave.

"No! I'll do it!" She reluctantly said.

* * *

 **Abyss** was watching the whole conversation, and reported it to Masao.

Masao, "So I see."

 **Abyss** , "My lord, shall I take care of him on the spot?"

"No."

"But...my lord..."

"I should make them suffer, instead of leave. My hypnosis ability has been enhanced. I am more than capable of overthrowing Shimizu's influence, just by eye contact! That...is...final."

"...Yes, my lord."

* * *

 _ **What will be the fate of the Tanakas?**_

 _ **What will happen to Natsuno?**_

 _ **Here's where things really start deviating from the original plot of "Shiki."**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	28. Negligence

**Chapter 26: Negligence**

Connor was putting all the ingredients for the antidote together.

 _"I hope this works!"_

He then noticed a little girl with a doll.

 _"That must be Shizuka Matsuo."_

He postponed making the potion, hid it in a drawer, and locked it in order to pursue her.

Shizuka, "Make sure you don't mess up, this time!"

Connor, "Mess up what?"

She was surprised by him. "You really know the perfect time to sneak up on someone; it's almost scary!"

"I've got news for you, Shizuka; things don't always go the way as planned! Sooner or later, someone was gonna find out, and do something!"

* * *

 **Daylight:**

Kaori and Akira came to secretly put up talismans in Natsuno's room. Of course, they still shouldn't be intrusive.

"Exuse me...! Is anyone home...?"

Mr. Yuuki answered the door.

"Yes?"

Akira, "Um, is...is Natsuno in?"

"Who are you?"

"Ahh, I'm Tanaka, his friend!"

"I've never heard of you."

Kaori, "Um, yesterday Natsuno wasn't feeling well, so we wanted to visit him!"

"Visit him?"

"Ahh...he said he hasn't been sleeping well."

"He's been like this since summer. He even said he'd skipped school today, and didn't even get out of bed. So it'd be better if you guys came again after a few days or so..."

Natsuno struggled to stand up.

"Dad. Let the two of them in!"

"Natsuno!"

The two bolted inside.

"Excuse us...!"

"Ah...hey!"

In the hallway,

Akira, "Natsuno! Were you attacked again!?"

Natsuno, "Why the hell did you come back!?"

"How could we leave you be?"

Kaori, "Look at this." She held out the bag of charms. "I don't know if these work against okiagari, but I think they might do the trick. We'll put lots of them up in your room."

Natsuno, "You guys...I don't intend on dying either. I'll definitely leave this village. I've always felt that way—And so does your friend, Kaori. In order to live in a big city again, I've been studying for college exams as well."

Akira, "That's right! Let's leave, Natsuno! Let's wait for the right chance! We should be able to find an opening at some point! Before that sword Connor called ' **Soul Edge** ' decides to rear its ugly head!"

* * *

 **Later that day:**

Mr. Yuuki discovered Natsuno's entire room covered in religious artifacts, again.

"What the...What the hell is this? Natsuno...You did it again? No...It must be those kids. Do they really think that these things will improve Natsuno's condition? The tendency to be superstitious, which is often seen in rural areas...Okiagari...Epidemics...Curses...I've had enough."

* * *

 **The next day:**

Kaori and Akira returned to Natsuno's house—along with Connor—to see if the charms warded off okiagari.

Akira, "Hello! It's the Tanakas from yesterday!"

Kaori, "Hello?"

Connor, "Mr. Yuuki, answer!"

This time, however, it was Natsuno's mother. And she seemed like many of the other villagers who succumbed to the okiagari.

Ms. Koide, "Yes?"

 _"Holy crap! She's been bitten!"_

Kaori, "Um, we came to check up on Natsuno again."

"Please come in."

Akira, "Th-Thank you."

Connor thrust a dagger into her, removing the hypnosis. When he pulled it back out, there was no blood or wound, but she did faint.

"What did you do that to her for?!"

Connor, "She's fine. Now let's go."

They entered Natsuno's room, only to discover that all the talismans were gone.

Akira, "Natsuno..."

Kaori, "He looks worse! He looks the same way Megumi did."

Connor, "It seems Natsuno didn't tell his parents anything. Understandable, because of Ikumi just blurting out like that."

Akira, "Don't say things like that!"

Kaori, "But..."

Mr. Yuuki came from behind them.

"Could you leave?"

They turned around to see him.

"As you can see, Natsuno isn't in any condition to talk with you."

He then passed them the bag of charms.

"I'll give these back to you. I don't want you to bring him such strange things."

Kaori took the bag. "Well...Um..." He glared at her. "P-Please let us nurse him! Could you let us stay with him overnight tonight? We won't cause you any trouble. Please!"

Akira, "P-Please!"

However, Mr. Yuuki sternly said, "We're his family, so we'll nurse him. Stop saying senseless things and just go home!"

Akira, "No. Not even in a million years!"

Kaori, "Akira..."

"I'm not going home!"

Connor, "Akira, that's enough!"

"But..."

Kaori, "If we can't be inside the house, then we'll just have to watch from outside."

"Outside? In the middle of the night?"

"Are you scared?"

Akira held it in for a little bit.

"Fine. We won't ask you anymore. But remember this. _We're_ the only ones who know how to save Natsuno. If you don't do anything he'll be killed."

Connor, "Akira..."

Mr. Yuuki, "Killed?"

Connor, "Some guys just don't keep an open mind."

Akira, "It's okiagari!"

Kaori, "Akira! Let's go!"

"All you do is get in our way. It's as if you're trying to kill him!"

"Come on."

"We'll save Natsuno for sure!"

"Sorry for the trouble."

She had to drag Akira out of the house.

Connor, "Mr. Yuuki..."

Mr. Yuuki, "What?"

"It helps to be open-minded rather than a stubborn son-of-a-bitch."

"Huh?"

"Don't you realize that the one thing all the deaths have in common? They're all cardiac. Doesn't that scream 'suspicious' to you?"

With that, Connor left.

* * *

 **Mr. Yuuki's POV:**

Oh! Those kids just might've accidently overheard about Ikumi Itou.

Those superstitious village kids naively think that it's real.

How silly of me to handle things like a child.

* * *

 **Outside:**

Akira, "We need weapons to fight against **Soul Edge** as well! We're gonna arm ourselves and put up an all-out fight! Connor already has **Soul Calibur**! I'll bring a spiked bat."

Kaori, "I-I'll bring a skillet."

"A skillet?!"

Mr. Yuuki caught up to them.

"Wait!"

Akira, "What?"

"I'm sorry about what just happened."

"Eh?!"

"Since you were so serious about this matter, I gave it a little thought too, thinking that you three might be right. Everything makes sense if the Kanemasa people are okiagari."

Kaori, "Then you believe us?"

Connor, "Well, not all of them. Dr. Ozaki was telling the truth, that Mr. Kirishiki is in fact human."

Mr. Yuuki, "I think I'll stand watch at Natsuno's side all night tonight."

Akira, "Really?"

Connor, "You'll need a lot of caffeine for that."

Mr. Yuuki, "I promise. It's a father's duty to protect his family, so leave Natsuno to me. I'll protect him from the okiagari for sure."

Connor thought to himself, "I guess that's why my father died in an Bomb attack that my mother and I survived."

Akira, "Okay. He's your son, so you protect him."

Connor then held out a matchlock gun to him. "I'll leave this with you. It's the very gun Oda Nobunaga himself used in the late Sengoku era."

Mr. Yuuki took it. Then Akira handed him the bag of charms.

"We think that okiagari are afraid of holy items like these."

Mr. Yuuki, "That's reassuring."

"If something happens, please call Yoshikazu Tanaka's house. He's listed in the phone book."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Let's go, Kaori."

And they were off.

However, Mr. Yuuki just threw the charms into the garbage. He did keep the gun.

* * *

 **Store area, Late at night:**

Mr. Tanaka was walking home—he was practically the only one working at the city hall office during the day nowadays. The only others who were employed were two temps, who only came at night.

"In any case, why in the heck does everyone work only at night?"

He then came across Megumi; for the moment he had forgotten about her death.

"Oh, Megumi. Where are you going so late at night?"

"Good evening, Mr. Tanaka! I'm going to buy some juice."

"It's dark, so watch your step, okay?"

"Okay!"

It was then, and only then, that he realized something.

"Wait a minute...Something's not right here. That's right. She died!"

Megumi came back, and wrapped her arms around him.

"You should be careful as well, Mr. Tanaka." She said in a concerning voice.

She quickly drew her fangs out, and bit him shallowly, then gave an order.

"Forget that this encounter happened. Just take your family, and get out of this village as soon as possible."

She then left. Mr. Tanaka continued walking home, until he came across another individual—this time, a knight in dark blue armor.

"Can I help you?"

The knight stepped forward, then stopped when he was only a foot away from Mr. Tanaka. He then leaned forward, and stared the man straight in the eye. His eyes revealed glowing rings in the irises, which erased the hypnotism effects of Megumi's bite, and put in his own, allowing him to manipulate the Mr. Tanaka.

"Tira."

A young woman came out, giggling.

"Yes, my lord?"

The knight's armor retracted, revealing Masao.

"Watch my sword while I have my meal."

"Of course, my lord."

* * *

 **Yes, this is what's happening now. Mr. Tanaka is under the complete control of Masao, who will be the one to turn him, just so he can torture the man emotionally when he's risen. This is why I made Masao and Soul Edge the Main Antagonists of this story. Masao is unraveling into insanity, if you can see already. Megumi is concerned for her friend's safety because she received the gift Kaori got her, and was already reassured by Connor earlier.**

 **And for those who are wondering, Edo Nobunaga was a samurai warlord who unified Japan in the late Sengoku era. He actually did use matchlock guns in his conquests; more often than the katana sword. He was impressed with their power, and, interestingly, firearms were introduced to Japan earlier in the Sengoku era, when Sakamoto Ryoma opened the country's ports for the first time.**

 **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**


	29. Freedom of Will

**Chapter 27: Freedom of Will**

No matter how much he wanted to, Natsuno couldn't move.

"It feels as if I've lost my my arms and legs. My entire body feels completely drained of energy."

* * *

 **Temple:**

Everyone was up and about; Mitsuo Tadokoro was sweeping the premise—

Seishin, "Mitsuo."

"Hm?"

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Junior Monk."

—Chiyo was sweeping the steps—

Seishin, "Good morning, Chiyo! You're always here early." She simply looked at him and resumed.

* * *

 **Seishin:**

People in the village are religious.

The temple has many patrons. But this is still the countryside. Their offerings to the temple are small. If it weren't for their offers of help, we really would be unable to keep up.

* * *

Tsurumi, Assistant Monk, "Good morning!"

Ikebe, Assistant Monk, "Good morning!"

Seishin and Mitsuo were talking to each other, but took the time to respond.

Seishin, "Good morning."

Mitsuo, "Morning!"

* * *

 **Seishin:**

The population of the village is gradually getting smaller.

But everyone's still behaving as usual this morning.

And yet, I'm...

* * *

Seishin was interrupt mid-thought by an alarm from his handicapped father, Shinmei, the Head Monk.

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Yasuyo, "We're ready for the next patient."

That next patient was Tokujiro.

Ozaki, "Hm? Ah! Yasuyo, we'll take him to the treatment room."

"Y-Yes, Doctor!"

Later,

Ozaki, "Tokujiro...Your wife, Setsuko, told me before she died that she had a dream about Nao."

Tokujiro, "Yeah...Nao, Huh...? So did I."

"As I suspected, it's Nao again. I see...Don't get too down, okay?"

He turned to the woman who had to assist Tokujiro into the clinic, Atsuko.

"Atsuko..."

"Yes?"

"I think Tokujiro should be hospitalized just to be on the safe side."

Tokujiro suddenly twisted his head. "I don't want to."

"What?"

Ozaki, "Tokujiro!"

"I don't want to be hospitalized. I'm not leaving the house. I have to maintain my family's Buddhist altar."

Atsuko, "I'll take care of it."

"No! Setsuko died even though she was hospitalized. I can't leave the house because I've got the family Buddhist altar and my work. So leave me alone!" He quickly turned his head back to the way it was.

* * *

 **Ozaki:**

It's as if he's reading lines that he memorized in a singsong tone.

Nao might've given him careful instructions on what to say.

The other day when I made a house call to Isami Maeda's house in Shimo-Sotoba, too...

* * *

The other day, Isami Maeda's wife, Motoko, called Dr. Ozaki, despite her husband being against it. This was because her father-in-law died in a disturbingly similar manner.

* * *

 **Ozaki:**

They probably started making their victims say that so that I can't hospitalize them.

What should I do?

* * *

Ozaki was disturbed when his mother knocked on the door.

"Toshio..."

"Mom..."

"There's an emergency."

"Hm?"

"Kyouko is on the floor in her room."

He was alarmed by this. "What?!"

Kyouko was bitten by Tatsumi.

* * *

 **Temple:**

Shinmei was trying to get out of bed out of concern for his friend, Tokujiro, alarming his wife, and son—who had literally just entered the room.

"Shinmei!"

"I'm going to see how Tokujiro's doing!"

Seishin, "Mom! Dad!"

"I suggested calling instead...because visiting will be difficult fir your father, but..."

"No...I'm going to see how Tokujiro's doing!"

"He said he'd go even if he had to crawl."

"Tokujiro...I'm going to see how he's doing."

"Shinmei!"

The old man fell to the floor, unsurprisingly, just as Mitsuo entered.

"Ah!"

"H-Head Monk!"

Seishin, "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?!"

Shinmei, "Nothing...I'm just going to see how he's doing. I'm just going..."

Seishin kneeled down to his father.

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Kyouko was put on the sofa—her condition was bad to say the least. Her husband ran in.

"Kyouko!"

The woman was practically gasping for breath.

* * *

 **Ozaki:**

Cyanosis...Respiratory distress...They got her!

* * *

Tamae, "She didn't come out even when I called her name for the past 2-3 days, so I came in from outside...since the window was open. Then..."

"Mom! Call Mutou and the others in here! Also, I need a stretcher, too!"

"Wha...I don't want to! Why do I have to do the job of a lowly clinic worker?"

"Get going!"

She couldn't win, so she did as her son said.

"You owe me one, okay, Kyouko?"

* * *

 **Ozaki:**

Come to think of it, Kyouko has been strangely quiet lately.

What made me think that they'd avoid us when they do their business?

The Ozakis' house was already open to okiagari."

* * *

"Doctor, the Junior Monk is on the phone."

Ozaki was transferred the phone line by Yasuyo.

 _"Seishin...I haven't seen him since that time. Looking back, I feel that a strange rift has developed between us since then."_

"Toshio..."

"Hey..."

"Yasuyo just told me that Kyouko is..."

"Yeah, the same stuff."

"How terrible...How is she?"

"Not good."

" _Toshio...He's blaming himself again._ That means that we aren't exceptions."

"So...what is it? You called for a reason, right?"

"Well, my father says that he wants to go see how Tokujiro is doing. He heard Tokujiro isn't doing well from my mother. I called the Yasumori family to see if it was okay to visit them. But I was told that he went to the clinic, so..."

"I see...But was your father that close to Tokujiro?"

"I don't know. But they've known each other for a long time."

"Well, the Yasumoris are one of the four families who bring together temple patrons."

"Yeah. His wife, Setsuko, brought the wives of the temple patrons together, so my father may be worried about Tokujiro becoming alone."

"I see. I think he should be back home by now. Why don't you try calling them?"

"Yeah. Toshio..."

"Hm?"

"I..."

"What is it?"

"Well...are you gonna be okay protecting Kyouko by yourself?"

"Yeah. I'll figure something out."

The two hung up.

Ozaki, "I've got nothing!"

* * *

 **Yuuki/Koide Residence:**

Natsuno continuously imagined himself running away from the village. The reality, he couldn't move any of his limbs.

Megumi came to the window. He was expecting her—by his own request.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you gonna come in? You need to hurry...as my dad may come to check on me."

She looked like she felt down for a moment.

"I wanna go over there by the window for you, believe it or not...but I can't get up."

Megumi slid the window, and hopped in.

Natsuno, simply, gave a warm smile.

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

Even at this point, I'm hoping Tohru and Megumi would change there minds and run with me.

* * *

Megumi, "I'm sorry, Yuuki."

Natsuno, "If you want to, you can call me Natsuno. That's okay. Somehow...I got the feeling...that I can't get out of this village. But know this...I...care...about...you."

She started crying. Then, reluctantly, drew her fangs and bit his neck.

* * *

 **Natsuno:**

Water?

No...it's tears.

The cold tears of a vampire, whose body is without warmth...

* * *

 **Morning:**

Mr. Yuuki, "Azusa?! Hey, Azusa?! Where'd she go? Hm?"

He noticed a note on the table, and began reading it.

" _I saw that Natsuno is dead. I can no longer stay in this village. I no longer feel safe in this village. Goodbye, Azusa._ "

Alarmed, he looked outside, only to find her gone.

"Azusa! Where are you?! This is a bad joke."

He then went into Natsuno's room, to discover the horrible reality. The man fell to his knees, and dropped the note.

"What's going on?!"

* * *

 **Tanaka Residence, night:**

Kaori and Akira were in a state of grief; they had found out that Natsuno had died. Worse, because of the stress he was under, Mr. Yuuki was starting to go crazy; his hair was starting to turn gray, and he was talking incomprehensibly.

Akira, "Dammit...Why...? Why?! I should stayed watch outside and protected Natsuno even if it wasn't easy. If I had..."

Kaori, "Mr. Yuuki said that he'd cooperate...When we finally got him to understand..."

"What...is going to happen now?"

Connor was in the room with them, "I'll tell you what...we don't stop. Natsuno's not dead yet. He's going to become a Daywalker. He's still on our side, I know that for sure."

Outside, Megumi was walking on the roof, checking on her friend, Kaori and her family.

Kaori, "In any case, let's lock the house up good. Natsuno also said that we should never let okiagari in the house, right?"

Connor took out a peculiar item from his bag.

"Here, Akira."

It was a katana.

"I made it myself. It's yours; use it instead of a spiked bat."

* * *

 **Megumi:**

That's no use, Kaori...the only way is for you to leave.

Why didn't her father get them out of here already?!

What's going on?

* * *

Downstairs,

Mrs. Tanaka was angry with her husband, since he always came home late for some reason, "Seriously, to think that you had to work on the weekend! Don't make me cook dinner for you at this late hour! On top of that, you work overtime every day and don't get home until late. Why're you working so much overtime at the village office?"

He remained silent. Megumi was shocked to see that he was pale—the sure sign that someone else might've bitten him first.

Mrs. Tanaka, "I bet you're barhopping with your colleagues, aren't you?!"

Kaori entered the room briefly, "Mom, we're gonna go to bed now. Did you lock all the windows?"

"Shut up! What do you think I am?! I'm not a housekeeper!"

"I-I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. Go ahead and do what you want!"

The woman spotted a schedule for the new Ebuchi Clinic on the table.

"Seriously, don't go barhopping and end up making frequent visits to a doctor! Give me a break! Kaori! Go to bed already!"

"Y-Yes ma'am!"

Outside,

Megumi jumped down from the roof.

"This can't be happening, not to Kaori."

Tira was spying on her from the distance.

"Oh...but it is happening to Kaori...Megumi Shimizu."

* * *

 ** _Natsuno died, Akira got a brand new Katana sword from Connor(it'll come into play later on), Megumi is trying to save Kaori, and Mr. Tanaka is going to die. A lot of things are happening, this isn't even half of it._**

 ** _Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow._**


	30. Tragedy and Succession

**Chapter 28: Tragedy and Succession**

Kyouko had finally flatlined.

Ozaki turned the ECG to prevent anyone from finding out that she died, and put bags of ice around her to slow possible decomposition.

"I'm sorry. In the end, I **am** this kind of person."

* * *

 **Somewhere else:**

Yuki was being held captive by **Nightmare** , as a slave.

 **Nightmare** , "From this day forward, you serve me." He consumed the soul of his latest victims, Tokujiro, and Sadaichi Tamo, at the same time.

A demonic samurai, **Yoshimitsu** , had just captured Satoko after she informed the rest of the staff at the Ozaki Clinic that Yuki was missing. She was shocked to see her being held captive.

 **Yoshimitsu** , "Move!"

* * *

 **Night Time:**

Atsushi was drinking a beer on the perch on his house, after his father punched him in the face, again. It was a direct result of his grandmother complaining about him smoking.

"That damn old hag!"

After crushing his can, he noticed a woman in yellow walking down the street, towards the liquor store.

She was a beauty.

"Good evening!"

He liked what he was seeing.

"This village sure closes up for the night early, huh? It's still early...but I don't see anyone on the street."

Atsushi gulped.

"Th-They're all cowards! They said they're afraid of the dark."

"But you aren't, huh? You're bold, aren't you?"

"Of course!"

"Would you be my conversation partner?"

"Why don't you come up here? The stairs are in the back."

"Is it okay?"

"Sure."

"Thank you."

* * *

 **Tanaka Residence:**

Megumi was unsure how she was going to inform her friend, Kaori, about her father dying.

"My presence, alone, will make her freak out. But...I have to try."

Inside,

Kaori woke up in bed by instinct alone. Something was very wrong.

"Who's there?"

"It's me."

"M...Megumi!"

"Listen to me, Kaori. Your father...Your father is dead."

Kaori She was right outside the window, sulking.

"I'm sorry, Kaori." The shiki was in tears. "I told him to leave with you...but...someone else must've cancelled it out."

"What?!"

"Kaori, get out of here, as soon as possible."

Kaori did what Megumi feared she would; she freaked out.

"Akira! Akira!"

Her little brother woke up out of bed, but was alarmed by what she shouted out next.

"Megumi is...outside the window!"

He rushed to his sister's room.

"Kaori!"

She turned around.

"She said Dad died!"

He ran downstairs to check their parents' bedroom; their father wasn't there.

"He's not here! Where'd he go?!"

Kaori caught up to him.

"I'll go check the bathroom!"

Their mother woke up.

"What's going on?"

Akira, "Kaori!"

Sure enough, their father was on the floor—he wasn't moving.

Kaori, "Dad! Dad!"

Akira, "Dad!"

Outside the window, a leg covered in dark armor moved away.

They both instantly realized, _" **Nightmare**!"_

Mrs. Tanaka, "What's the fuss?"

Akira, "Mom...Dad's dead."

She simply sighed in disbelief.

"There's no way he is, is he?"

She spotted the business card for Ebuchi Clinic in between her husband's left foot and right leg.

Mrs. Tanaka immediately called the Clinic.

"Hello. This is Ebuchi Clinic."

"Uhm, I'm sorry to call you this late. My name is Tanaka."

"Oh, are you Mr. Yoshikazu Tanaka's family? Did something possibly happen to him?"

"Uhm...He collapsed.

"I'll be right over."

He hung up. And then, his voice was already outside the door.

"Hello!"

"What? That was quick."

At the door...

"My name is Ebuchi. May I come in?"

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Dr. Ozaki was recording his experiments on his deceased wife. He was determined to find the weakness of the shiki.

"October fourteenth, 10:36 P.M. From this point forward, I will record everything that happens. Kyouko Ozaki, death confirmed October tenth. Cause of death was chronic blood loss. And then, this evening, at 7:18 P.M."

He showed the charts to the camera.

"...It was slight, but nevertheless, the ECG showed a response in brain activity..."

He lifted her arm.

"When you hold her arm, it shows that the rigor mortis has dissipated. Even keeping the body at a lower temperature, it doesn't normally dissipate this fast. The hyperstasis under the arm is also getting lighter."

He put her arm down and pulled open her eyelids.

"Lifting up the eyelids, I can see that the cornea is clear. After forty-eight hours after death, a human's cornea begins to cloud up, covering the pupil, but the pupil can be seen clearly now."

He closed the eye, grabbed a syringe, and moved towards her right side.

"Next, I shall draw blood through the catheter from the artery."

He took the sample out of the light to find something bizarre.

"When the blackish blood is sheltered from the light...bright red, thread-like liquid can be seen mixed together."

He took the sample to analyze it.

"Let's look at it from the microscope."

He noticed something else bizarre, at four hundred times actual size.

"The red blood cells are disentigrating. But small, red granules can be seen in the vermeil colored parts."

He stepped away from the microscope.

"The aforementioned statement is proof that the body is not completely dead. Extremely slowly, it is undergoing a change...different from how a normal body decomposes."

"October fifteenth, 5:42 A.M. As dawn approaches, the ECG shows signs of brain activity. The haze in the cornea is also becoming transparent. At the same time, the rigidity from the rigor mortis is totally gone. The hypostasis has disappeared, returning the skin to its original pallor. Even then, there's still no pulse or respiration. Blood pressure is also zero. Kyouko is definitely still a corpse."

* * *

 **Yamairi:**

Another Daywalker, Yoshie Kurahashi, was giving orders to the shiki in the area, "Now, go to bed already!" when Megumi came up to her.

"Yoshie..."

"Hm?"

"I wanna ask you something."

"What's the matter?"

"Hasn't Natsuno risen up yet?"

Yoshie tried to put the news on her gently.

"Well..."

"I heard that his body was being carried out of the house this morning. Where did he go?"

"I don't know. If it was in the morning, that means they didn't use our funeral home. His father is from a big city. So it may be only natural."

"Then I have to go find him."

"Megumi, in big cities, they don't bury corpses. They cremate them."

This was devastating for Megumi.

"Oh no! Then...Natsuno is..."

The Shiki fell to the ground, in tears.

"No!"

Masao walked up to them.

"Was Natsuno cremated?" He had a disturbing grin on his face. Megumi was infuriated by his tone. "Cremated means he was burnt to ashes, huh? Then that means he definitely won't rise?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Huh?"

Megumi picked up a rock, and threw it into Masao's face.

"Why did a loser like you rise up while Natsuno was cremated?! Take his place and die now!"

She held him by his shirt collar, jack-slapped him—"Th-That's too cruel, Shimizu!"—and dropped him.

"Shut up! If Natsuno had become one of us, he would've become a senior member right away...which is totally different from you, who can't even properly kill people!"

"Girls sure do like guys like Natsuno—who are stupid and act cool—don't they?"

She high-kicked him into the air.

"Shimizu's gonna kill me."

Yoshie, "Now, now. You'll live a long time. You'll eventually find a better guy. Besides, you might be put in the big-city unit."

Megumi, "I don't wanna be part of the big-city unit now. Not without him."

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Ozaki opened the blinds of the window. However, Kyouko's skin was starting to react horribly.

"Her skin is...!"

It was, literally, burning. He put her on a gurney, and rushed her to a darker room.

There, not only did it stop burning, but the damage was also disappearing, and the skin returned back to the way it was.

"So this is what shiki are like..."

Later,

After he finished a phone call to Yasuyo, he began experimenting.

"17:06. I'm going to obtain another blood sample from her."

He inserted the syringe into her arm. When he pulled it back out, after obtaining a blood sample, the point quickly disappeared.

"The puncture hole from the needle closes quickly. It completely heals within a few minutes."

He shook the sample in a test tube.

"The blood is transfiguring, too."

He put the tube with others, and did various things to it.

"Even when the obtained blood is left alone, it neither coagulates nor separates. It showed no reaction to various chemicals, either. However, it's slowly changing its color to dark red."

He, intentionally, pricked his finger with a scalpel, and dropped a single drop of his own blood into the sample. Something astonishing happened before his very eyes. And then, Kyouko woke up, and she was clearly scared.

"How are you feeling?"

She couldn't answer.

"19:09. Kyouko woke up. Don't worry. I'll put you to sleep right away."

However, he found that anesthetics had no effect on her.

"The anesthesia doesn't work. Thiopental, ketamine, pentazocine, and morphine don't work, either."

She finally said actual words.

"T-Toshio...Toshio..."

He ended up taping her mouth. Then, he injected another chemical.

"I'm going to try injecting agrichemical."

It didn't work. However, Ozaki tried a new approach; Religious items.

First, bells.

"It seems that clear metallic sounds like the tinkle of bells scares her in general."

Second, the statue he borrowed from an altar.

"She clearly reacts to the Buddha statue from our family Buddhist altar, too. Her brain might've transfigured in a way that makes her afraid of certain diagrams and sounds. Incantations are effective. With this, we can probably evade their attacks much of the time. The question is...How do you stop a shiki?"

Ozaki tried numerous things.

Incisions,

"The incision closes immediately. Not a single trace remains."

Vein cutting,

"I cut open the antecubital area, exposed the median cubital vein and cut it open. Then, the bleeding stopped as if the vein shut off somewhere. The incision closes, too. It's even hard to injure her with ordinary methods."

Brain damage,

"What revived first was her brain. What if I destroy her brain...I guess it's no use. All that's left is to cut off the blood...Either by cutting off her head or destroying an area where the aorta and venae cavae are concentrated."

He got out a mallet and a wooden stake, and aimed at her heart.

"If this doesn't work, then there's no longer..."

He hammered the stake into her heart.

* * *

 **Outside:**

Seishin rang the doorbell.

"Is that you, Seishin?"

"Yeah. I brought Connor with me."

"The window of my room is open, so come in from there. I'm in the operating room."

When the two entered the operating room, they discovered the grisly site inside; The room was drenched in blood. At the center, Ozaki was holding a mallet, and Kyouko was laying on the operating table, dead as a door nail—there was a wooden stake in her chest.

Connor, "What the hell did you do?!"

Ozaki, "Good timing. Help me clean this up."

* * *

 _ **I forgot to mention which forms Nightmare is taking.**_

 _ **Form 1: Soul Calibur II**_

 _ **Form 2: Soul Calibur V**_

 _ **Form 3: Soul Calibur III**_

 _ **And finally, Form 4: Soul Calibur IV and V opening cinematic.**_

 _ **Now then, as you can tell, things are getting dark. Very dark.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	31. Bloody Fate

**Chapter 29: Bloody Fate**

Ritsuko came home to an alarming site.

"Mother I'm home...AUgh! Mother!"

Her mother was on the floor, bleeding out of a nasty gash on her back. If that wasn't traumatic enough, Midori was missing.

"What happened?! Who did this to you?! Where's Midori?!"

With what little strength she had left...

"They...They...took her."

"Who took her?!"

"Demons."

Ritsuko couldn't believe what she heard.

* * *

Midori and many other captives were brought into an underground mine dug out, underneath Kanemasa. The building stayed in place thanks to underground support beams. The captives were being used as slaves to unearth the third fragment of **Soul Edge**.

Something in the ground started glowing red. Midori picked it up, and tried to hide it, only for **Abyss** , the slave master, to grab her wrist and take it from her.

"A slave like you shouldn't do that to her master."

 **Nightmare** approached.

"My lord, it has finally been found!"

 **Abyss** gave the shard to the knight, who then added it to **Soul Edge**.

The flesh on the blade solidified, the area around the eyeball turned into a hilt, shaped like a six-pointed star, and blade looked smooth, diamond-shaped, and almost complete; except for a large chunk missing from one of the edges.

 **Nightmare** himself seemed to have degraded into a body of dark energy. What was once flesh-like had now fully transformed into a compound of metal and bone. The "mouth" covering the chestplate from before had split open around his entire waist, connecting the legs and torso with a torrent of evil energy. The armor appeared to be fused to his claw and much more metallic in appearance.

"Now, the time for hiding has ended!" He turned to **Abyss**. "Begin the assault!"

"Yes, my lord."

 **Abyss** rounded up all the slaves, and put them in cages.

 **Nightmare** swung his blade around, saying "Blood! Darkness! I shall drown the world in both!"

* * *

 _ **Nightmare has almost finished his task. Now, with his new power, he's setting his sights on Sotoba—to draw out Soul Calibur, in order to obtain the final piece—things are starting to get serious.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	32. Deception

**Chapter 30: Deception**

The new funeral home had already held two wakes.

Tatsumi, "How's it going, Hayami? Is this funeral business working out?"

Hayami, a flamboyancy-obsessed shiki, was juggling chocolate bars.

"Of course! Things are going perfectly! So many people are dying these days; the temple just can't keep up! We held a funeral for Yoshikazu Tanaka three days ago, and today was Atsushi Ookawa's! It was a perfect spectacle!"

Tatsumi didn't look very pleased.

"Spectacle...? Are you sure that's a good idea? Whatever you've got in mind, you'd better spill it."

"Sure thing! Have a chocolate bar and I'll tell you everything!"

"I don't want any."

"Oh well, let me tell you about Yoshikazu Tanaka's funeral the other day! It started at 6, after the sun had gone down!..."

After explaining every single detail about the funeral,

"...And at the end, there are fireworks! The relatives' faces go red with joy...it's beautiful!"

 _"They're probably red with shame..."_

"After the ceremony, the family members put the coffin on a bier, and carry it to the cemetery in the mountains. But!" Hayami opened the door behind him, "Tatsumi, look here! There's actually a small room behind the hall! Back here, we switch the real coffin with a fake one! And we leave the corpse here until we know if it will revive or not! This way, we won't have to waste time digging them back up!...It's brilliant!"

Tatsumi sniffed the two bodies.

"Yoshikazu will revive today. I can tell by the smell. Give the Ookawa boy another day or two."

"Ooh, just as I thought, a jinrou has a good nose! Well then, let's head to Yamairi!"

"...Whatever, Hayami, just tone the funerals down a little. Funerals are for the benefit of the surviving family and friends, so make sure they want to keep coming back here."

"...Got it, boss! Starting tomorrow, I'll do it like you said!"

Tatsumi noticed something. "...Huh. Some of the flowers are missing. Why..."

* * *

 **Yuuki/Koide Residence:**

Tohru knew he wasn't the one who delivered the killing bite to Natsuno, but he still felt intense guilt.

* * *

 **Tohru:**

Why do people offer flowers to the deceased?

Natsuno's been dead for more than seven days now. And Megumi and I come every day to put flowers by his window since he doesn't have a grave.

Sunako told me about her past, but didn't say anything after that but...I felt like there was more she wanted to say.

Even though it's painful, I still want to live. Don't you?

I'm sorry, Natsuno. This is the last time.

Even after all this...I guess I still want to live.

Goodbye, Natsuno. Goodbye.

* * *

The tree above him started rustling.

"Tohru."

Someone leapt down from the branch; It was Natsuno.

"Why are you here?!"

"I thought you were cremated!"

"I was about to be; but Connor busted me out before they had the chance."

"Natsuno..."

"Hey, I told you; stop calling me by my first name. Now listen, Connor is working on an antidote that'll free you..."

* * *

 **Town Hall:**

Dr. Ozaki was puzzled; no one was working in the office.

"Anyone here!? Ah..."

The door opened, and coming through it was Takahumi Hirosawa.

"Oh my, if it isn't the Junior Doctor!"

"Why are you here? I thought you were living off your pension?"

"Not exactly. I stay here and help out part time! Because there's no one here in the day time!"

"No one? Unbelievable!"

"It seems that the chief doesn't feel well these days, and can only come here at night. And all the other workers are very sympathetic, so they'll only work at night as well. If you need any data, I can prepare it for you. But, if you're in a hurry, you can come after seven..."

Ozaki waited until it hit 7:00 P.M. When he entered the building, again, he saw many workers, busy as bees; It was just like a normal office scene. If it wasn't at night. He walked up to the front desk, and asked the guy there, "Excuse me, where's the public health officer?"

"He's not here. He disappeared, and we still haven't got a replacement. Can I help you?"

"I want to know the number of deaths here since September."

"Number of deaths? Zero."

"Zero?"

He then noticed something strange about them all.

* * *

 **Ozaki:**

These people...could it be that everyone is...

So I see...the Town Hall has fallen into the hands of those people. To prevent someone from calling for help from the outside, perhaps they have taken care of the death certificates.

* * *

Ozaki was ticked off. "That trick won't work! There are even people who died in the government hospital outside the village! For example, the death of Mikiyasu Yasumori was confirmed in September along with his son's death! If you like, shall I bring the doctor who attended his deathbed at the government hospital?"

"Oh, you're talking about Yasumori Construction Company people? They moved out of the village before they died. They submitted the moving notification at the end of August." The man pulled out a signed moving notification. "So, when they died in September, they were no longer village residents. That's why the number of deaths in the village is zero."

Ozaki was getting fed up even more. "So everything was to hide the deaths in the village..."

"Do you understand now?"

"No, I don't. I wrote death certificates, too. These are copies of them." He raised up an envelope he brought in with him. "I'll take these outside of the village and cause a commotion by saying they don't match the family registers in the village. Then the matter will be publicly investigated and..."

He was stopped by a rather seductive voice; like one a movie's femme fatale would use. "That won't do. Doctor."

He turned to see curtains behind him, just as the lights went out. That's when they opened. On the other side was Mr. Kirishiki's wife, Chizuru.

"It'd be in your best interest to keep your mouth shut. I'm a gourmet. And you are my prey. But if you're going to cause us trouble," she snapped her fingers, summoning the now shiki librarian snatch the envelope. "I'll have you be food for these guys right here, right now. I'm Chizuru Kirishiki. I'm a shiki who picks on young, lively humans for her food." She sent him an air-kiss. "I'll visit you at your place in two days, Young Doctor Ozaki."

Outside,

Ozaki was concerned now. "Hmph...So I don't have much time left either, huh?"

* * *

 **Yuuki/Koide Residence:**

Natsuno, "How much time do you need?"

Connor, "It would speed things up with a 'guinea pig,' y'know. At the very least, three days."

"Get to it then!"

"And where are you going?!"

"I've got something I should've done a long time ago."

* * *

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	33. Unfinished Business

**Chapter 31: Unfinished Business**

Dr. Ozaki had just left the shrine office when he encountered Natsuno outside the clinic.

Natsuno, "Dr. Ozaki...there's something you need to know..."

Ozaki, while taking out a cigarette, "What is it, Natsuno?"

"Do you still think that Megumi Shimizu is dead?"

"Wait...You can move even after you died?"

"It was actually just a comatose state; I became a daywalker. But I need to tell you about something else."

"What is it?"

"There's a monster knight armed with a giant sword on the loose, called **Nightmare**. Keep an eye out for him."

Natsuno turned around and walked away.

"Only you and Connor can save this village. Plus, you're not alone. I'm here, too."

* * *

 **Ozaki** :

My body's trembling...shivering with delight.

There's a comrade within the enemies.

I understand, Natsuno. I will turn this village red with shiki's blood.

* * *

 **Elsewhere:**

 **Nightmare** had brutally slaughtered all the adults in the Maeda family - except Matoko and her father-in-law(who was already a shiki) - and kidnapped the children.

 **Abyss** , "My lord, why do we still have these children?"

 **Nightmare** , "Their parents and older siblings will do ANYTHING to get them back; even murder their neighbors if they have to."

"Oh, of course... _the new Lord **Nightmare** always has a brilliantly, sadistic plan!"_

"Mmnn..."

"Oh, but...what if they die?"

"It's a matter of probability...they are weak, pathetic mortals...nothing more...nothing less!"

* * *

 **Nightmare:**

Your end is growing near, Sotoba...

Show me...your madness! Offer your souls! Taste fear! This place...shall be...your grave!

I want to see...your demise.

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Dr. Ozaki, Connor, and Natsuno were discussing the shiki problem, as well as the presence of **Nightmare**.

Ozaki, "Looks like the rehearsal for Shimotsuki Kagura has started."

Connor, "Shimotsuki Kagura?"

"It's a festival held annually. The event itself is scheduled to take place on November, Fifth, in the evening."

Natsuno, "Doctor, did you know that shiki are starting to live in the vacant houses in the village?"

"Vacant houses?"

"Their headquarters is, of course, in the mountains, but apparently there's not enough room there for everybody. So they have their eyes on the houses inside the village left empty due to death or moving out of their occupants. Those, who had moved out of the village earlier all of the sudden, now returned straight to their former homes. They casually say they moved back in and stared living like nothing happened. Gradually shiki and the living villagers are switching places."

"You're quite knowledgeable about shiki, huh...you must know that I intend on exterminating them, all of them. Now onto problem number two. Connor?"

Connor, "We can't just straight out kill them; **Soul Edge** will devour their souls for nourishment. From what was seen, many would rather be killed by a shiki than have their soul, forcefully, sucked out. Sure, shiki take longer, but at least they inject something that numbs the pain. From the looks of things, due to those who didn't rise, **Nightmare** might be less straight-forward."

"How so?"

"Each soul he devours doubles his current power; with no defined limit."

Natsuno, "We might only have one shot to reverse the situation; though it seems **Nightmare** might pop up to try and stop it. This is not going to be easy."

"Nobody said it was gonna be easy...and, as if to attest to the truth of those words, those close to us continue to die one after another..."

* * *

 **Mountain pass:**

Megumi was disappointed in herself - Not only had Yoshikazu become a shiki, but she couldn't get Kaori to leave the village with her remaining family. Her only real friend was in grave danger.

"Kaori...I'm sorry."

On the other side,

 **Nightmare** was giving commands to Yoshikazu, claiming they were from the Kirishikis.

Yoshikazu, "What have you done!"

 **Nightmare** , "You're talking about me drinking your blood? You think you have the right to lecture me? You, too, drained someone's blood, didn't you? It's the first thing you do, once you revive, you know. Killing two to three humans by drinking their blood is a type of hazing"

 _"So you've killed someone too, right?"_

To Yoshikazu's surprise, Masao's voice started speaking into his mind.

 _"Because they wouldn't have let you outside otherwise!"_

"I was...so hungry...Who was the one I attacked?"

 **Nightmare** , "They throw nameless residents of a city to beginners."

Masao, _"Because it's unlikely that beginners would attack, out of the blue, someone from the village who they know. So, what are you going to do, Oji?"_ **Nightmare** 's eyes started to glow, _"Starting tomorrow, you're expected to become self-reliant when it comes to sustenance. I think...you should start with your family."_

Yoshikazu, "Wh-What?"

 _"Since you rose, the probability of your blood relatives rising is high. It's lonely all by yourself, isn't it? Don't you think it would have been nice to have your wife and your children back by your side?"_

"How can you say that?!"

 **Nightmare** , "If you don't attack them, then someone else will. Most likely, me; if I do it, then it will be far more brutal, to the point that they don't rise."

"So, you attacked your own family...?!"

Masao, _"When the time comes, I will leave no survivors."_

 **Nightmare** had left the man emotionally broken.

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Connor had told the other two about the shards.

Ozaki, "So, what would happen if he obtains the final shard?"

Connor, "It is said that, if that happens, **Soul Edge** and **Nightmare** would merge into the living incarnation of catastrophe."

Natsuno, "What would it be called?"

"It was never given a name; all previous attempts to obtain the final shard ended in defeat. It's not even shown what it actually looks like."

"True, but the way you described it as Catastrophe incarnate, it must be unstoppable."

Connor sighed, "Yeah, I suppose...maybe it might be referred to as a 'night terror.'"

* * *

 **Next day, Tanaka Residence:**

Yoshikazu was at the entrance of his house, and started imagining the ways his family would react.

* * *

 **Yoshikazu's POV:**

My home...The place where my family lives...

My home is right before my eyes, yet I can't enter...

My wife cooking dinner while she waited for me to come home...My children gathered around the table...I want to go back there...

I'm here. I'm not dead. I'm still alive. Somebody, call out to me! Usher me inside and say how wonderful it is to have me back!

I want a glimpse of my wife's face at least. I want her to know I'm alive. I want her to understand my anguish and comfort me.

But...I can't knock...the sight of the house fills me with terror. My own house rejects me.

This is what they call a "locked place", I guess? I'm no longer a member of the family here, and I can't enter until I'm invited.

I wonder how my wife and children will live from now on...Sachiko's a housewife, she never had to work. It will be a real pity if my children will have to give up on entering a college because the family has no money. If I were to bring them with me to the mansion in the mountains, they'll have a life free of such worries.

* * *

The family dog, Love, ran towards Yoshikazu—not in a loving manner, but an aggressive one.

* * *

 **Yoshikazu:**

Love...even you're rejecting me?

Sachiko...you won't reject me, right?

* * *

Sachiko came outside as Love was barking and snarling, forcing Yoshikazu to hide.

"Is it you, Akira?! What's with the commotion, Love?!"

* * *

 **Yoshikazu:**

Sachiko! Sachiko will be glad that I rose from the dead. Sachiko will, won't she...?

No, she's not such a woman.

"Monster! Came to attack me, huh?!"

She will...chew me out and...go off into a bout of hysteria yelling her guts at me.

"We're in this difficult situation because you went and died on us! All because of you!"

* * *

"Just what is it, Love?! You're disturbing the neighbors, so would you..."

Before she could finish, Yoshikazu attacked her from behind—covering her mouth so she wouldn't scream out.

* * *

 **Yoshikazu:**

For the first time I'm able to see the truth clearly.

And the truth is I hate this woman's guts.

* * *

 _ **Hopefully, you can see what the new Nightmare's personality is like; Cold, Sadistic, and Insane.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or, follow.**_


	34. Corrupted Influence

**Chapter 32: Corrupted Influence**

By now, **Nightmare** had manipulated, and even erased the minds of the weak-willed; Yoshikazu was only the first victim. The azure knight had just seized control of three more, at the same time. His use for them, wipe out the remaining villagers.

Kaori woke up later than usual. She immediately got ready, and went to get her brother up.

"We're running seriously late! Akira, wake up, it's nine already!"

Akira got up, groggily. "How so...? Can't be! Why didn't Mom wake me up?"

She went to their mother's room. "Mom...It's already nine...so we're off to school, ok?"

The woman simply twisted her head and said "I see..."

Living room,

Akira, "Geez, what's up with Mom not waking up, huh? Even though she's the one always yelling 'Wake up, wake up!' at me on top of her lungs!"

Kaori was in tears, "Akira...What should we do, Akira..."

Akira slammed his fist onto the table. "Dammit all! Damn that bitch Megumi! And that madman, **Nightmare**! Do they want to wipe every single one of us off the face of Earth?!"

Kaori suddenly remembered, it seemed like Megumi was trying to warn her. "No...Megumi...she's not responsible!"

Akira argued "She killed Natsuno...She killed our father...And now she's killing our mother on top of them?!" He then stood up, "Kaori! I'm going to the Mizo District!"

"Huh?"

"Are you retarded? We need to stock up on things like talismans and amulets from 'Hachima' again! And I'll go buy 'em!"

The only money they had left was their mom's.

Kaori, "But what about school? We're poor children who've just lost their father! They'll be willing to overlook our ditching classes!"

"Meanwhile you go to the storeroom and make stakes out of lumber you'll find there!"

"Wh-What's with you ordering me around? Aren't you biting off more than you can chew?"

"Because we're down to our last stand! And we won't go down without putting up one hell of a fight!"

Later,

Akira turned back due to hearing news of a shiki in the recently abandoned Itou Residence.

"Kaori! Are you finished with the stakes?!"

"Wh-What all of the sudden? I've only made a couple so far."

Akira grabbed one of them, "I'm taking it!"

"Wai-Akira?!"

"I'm through with relying on adults!"

* * *

 **Itou Residence:**

Akira broke into the abandoned house, and on the side of the main room was a curtain.

* * *

 **Akira:**

It's only a little past noon at the moment. I still have time. These things only come out at night.

Natsuno...please protect me if you can.

All the windows and doors are locked. And they're boarded up from the inside to boot. So that daylight couldn't reach inside, I guess. These things really are vampires.

DAAAAAAMN!

This is the house where that wierd woman, Ikumi Itou, used to live with her daughter. About ten days prior both of them died or disappeared. But this isn't a vacant house. There're signs that this place is being dwelt in. There must be someone here.

The windows are boarded up...and even sealed up airtight with putty, making the inside enshrouded in pitch-black darkness. But...there's no one here?

This isn't exactly a big house. There're only three usual rooms and this one with dirt floor.

Aside from boards and bags with plaster the only other oddity is...A curtain...a new one...

Yes, this heavy curtain unpenetrable to light is out of place here.

* * *

Akira pulled back the curtain, revealing a closet door.

 _"A closet? Why hang a curtain in front of a closet..."_

As soon as he carefully opened the door, he was shocked at what was inside.

 _"It's that...Old Man Maeda!"_

Akira stepped closer.

"Found you!"

He touched the man's skin; it was cold as ice. He pulled out the wooden stake and a hammer.

"I'm gonna finish off every single one of you!"

* * *

 **Akira:**

They're murderers!

They killed Dad and Natsuno! That's why I don't consider what I'm about to do an atrocity!

I'll do it!

* * *

Suddenly, someone snuck up behind him, and knocked him unconscious.

Later,

When Akira came to, he was tied up and gagged. And Maeda woke up, turned his head toward Akira, and grinned.

* * *

 **Akira:**

Mnn...What the hell happened...? I can't move...

It's five already?!

Mnnnnn! Mnnnn!

* * *

 **Kunihiro Residence:**

Ritsuko answered the phone.

"Hello, Kunihiro listening."

"Ritsuko?"

"Oh, is it you, Kiyomi?"

"Help me...! There's someone here in my house trying to..."

Unknown intruder, "Offer your soul!"

The last thing Ritsuko heard on the other side, before the line went dead, was the sound of Kiyomi screaming.

"Wha...Hello?! Kiyomi?! Kiyomi!" Alarmed, she immediately contacted Dr. Ozaki.

"Doctor, is it you?! It's Ritsuko! I just received a call from Kiyomi, she was crying for help! I'm going to help her right now!"

Ozaki, "Wha...No, wait, Ritsuko!" She already hung up.

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Connor was working on the antidote when he heard the phone conversation. "What's going on?!"

Ozaki, "They got Kiyomi, and now Ritsuko is going to fall into their trap!"

* * *

 **Kiyomi's house:**

Ritsuko saw what was left of Kiyomi; her body looked like the life had literally been sucked out of it.

"Oh god..."

When she moved into another room, she discovered Kiyomi's husband, his back bent too far. And on the wall, was a message written in the man's blood:

"Your sister is my eternal slave."

Ritsuko said the name out loud, " **Nightmare**?!"

Outside,

Her dog, Taro, was practically dragging her.

Suddenly, a truck rushed past her, leaving Ritsuko distracted long enough for **Nightmare** to startle her.

"Ritsuko..."

"Wh-Who are you?!"

Two men who were supposed to be dead came from behind him.

"Bite her."

* * *

 _ **Looks like Nightmare has the upperhand now.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	35. Savior

**Chapter 33: Savior**

"What...should I do?"

At the temple grounds, Seishin was looking around, flashlight in hand, when he noticed Tohru behind a tree.

"Who's there? Are you lost? Or..."

"Please go, Junior Monk! Please don't come near me. Please...don't look at me."

"Don't tell me...You're Mr. Motou's..."

"Don't say any more!"

Seishin stepped back against another tree. "Could you show yourself to me?"

"No...I can't possibly face you. I killed Natsuno...my best friend. I didn't want to kill him. But they said that if I didn't attack Natsuno, they'd attack my family."

"You were forced into it."

"But I'm the one who actually attacked him...when he suggested that we should run away together. No...! Those are all excuses! Even now...I'm on my way back from attacking someone! I didn't want to kill. But I get hungry. When I thought that unless I eat something, I'd die, I just couldn't restrain myself...so I went to kill on my own. When I get hungry, I feel like, 'What's the big deal with killing people? I even killed Natsuno!' Even when I thought I didn't want to kill...!"

"You are..."

"Please go, Junior Monk! And please forget about me...Or I will...I will have to..." Tohru collapsed onto the ground.

"People may call what you did a sin. But who could blame you for wanting to live?...Death is a terrible thing for anyone." Sunako suddenly popped into Seishin's mind, so he walked back to the temple.

* * *

 **Unkown location:**

Akira fainted, then—when he came to—discovered that he was no longer in the house.

Then, a voice.

"Good, you're up."

Akira was brought to an unknown location, by a masked woman.

"Okay, thank you for helping me, but I don't wanna rely on adults any..."

He gasped at the sight of the woman after she unmasked herself.

"Megumi?! Why?!...After you killed Natsuno, and our dad..."

"I didn't want to."

"Bull-Fucking-Shit!"

"Even if I didn't do it, someone else would! That's just what a super-sadist like Tatsumi would do!"

The charm fell out of her dress, and dangled.

"You're...actually...wearing that?"

"Connor gave it to me, told me that your sister got it for me, as a birthday present...I only bit your dad, tried to convince him to leave, and take you with him. He definitely wasn't bitten by anyone else, beforehand."

Akira realized something.

"Then, that means that **Nightmare** can override this mind control you guys have."

" **Nightmare**?!"

"A blue knight, using a giant sword with an eye in it."

"I saw him the night I bit Natsuno!"

"You did?!"

"He actually shifted his shape after obtaining something from a well, and put it into his sword."

"We hafta tell Connor!"

* * *

 **Elsewhere:**

Dr. Ozaki had finally found Ritsuko; only, he was already too late.

"Ritsuko!"

Taro was whimpering at the fact that his owner was victimized.

"Ritsuko...we need to get you to a hospital."

She twisted her head toward him, "No, thanks. I'll just go back home. And I'm quitting my job at the clinic. Please, leave me alone."

He had to put her into his car, himself.

"Doctor...Please take care...of the village..."

"I will...I promise you I will, Ritsuko!"

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Ozaki came back to the clinic, and found that Chizuru was sitting on the loveseat in the recovery room.

"As promised, I came to visit you, Junior Doctor."

"I don't remember making a promise, though."

She giggled and held up the carving knife he used to make wooden stakes. "I see you were thinking scary things." She dropped it onto the floor, much to Ozaki's shock. "Are you giving up your practice as a doctor?"

Enraged, he recklessly charged at her with a wooden stake. However, a bullet broke through the window and shattered the stake upon impact. The shooter was Seishirou, her husband. "To think that I'm helping my wife have an affair..."

Chizuru mocked Ozaki on the spot. "It was Seishirou. He's skilled, isn't he?"

"Seems like it. But why is he staying with you guys when he's human?"

"Oh, are you curious?"

"No...That was just a question."

She giggled, "He's staying with us of his own free will, just like Mr. Muroi."

Ozaki was extremely shocked; earlier he received a phone call from Miwako, Seishin's mother, saying that Seishin was gone.

"Shocked? He came to visit Sunako this evening. You've been betrayed by your best friend, haven't you? Unforgivable?"

"No...I had a feeling that might be the case. A stupid choice, as expected from him. But, since he knew her for this long and he's still alive, I can't really say it was wrong; just taking his own path."

"You're stubborn, aren't you?"

"A decision expected from Seishin. No...a decision expected from a monk in general, one without violence."

She approached him. "Stop it."

"What? Are you begging for your life now?"

He took her hand off of his face. "Yeah. You're right. I don't want to die yet. I want to see the village die out. And not from you. Just how many people have died since this summer? And what did everyone in the village do about it? They kept saying that it was strange, but all they did was wait for someone to come up with the answer. And I came up with an answer. But they jabbered on about the baptism of modern rationalism and dismissed it easily. I've had enough. I can't deal with people who don't think on their own."

"And?"

"I want to see it through...what will become of those who accept only what is convenient for them."

She giggled again, "You are interesting. I like men who keep me from getting bored."

"So I..." Before he could say anything, she bit him in the neck, and told him to burn his research.

"I like handsome men. And I make it a practice to suck the blood of men whom I come to like right away. Destroy the data. Revise the patients' charts as instructed. Obey us unconditionally."

* * *

 **Ozaki:**

Alright, I'll play your game. But you might not like the outcome.

* * *

 **Temple Grounds:**

 **Nightmare** was on the hunt. He noticed the deceased Assistant Monk, now a shiki, warning a living temple tenant.

Once he walked away, **Nightmare** was right in front of him.

"Your soul...is mine!"

 **Nightmare** cleaved the shiki in half, down the middle, in one blow. Blood stained on the surrounding trees.

"Shiki...are now...my prey!"

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Natsuno managed to convince Nao to come as a volunteer for a test—in reality, she was the guinea pig for the restoration method.

A few minutes later,

Connor, "It's finished."

He had finally completed the potion, as evidenced when Nao walked out; full body temperature, a heartbeat, and everything else that humans have that shiki don't.

Natsuno, "How much did you make? The more you were able to make, the less shiki we have to worry about, y'know."

"That's the bad news. I, literally, only had enough to make two, not counting the test. I tried coming back to the meadow after that day, but it seems as though our 'friend,' Tatsumi, decided to have a field day there."

"We need one for Ritsuko, as well!"

"There's the good news; for a vampire who has yet to taste human blood, feed them a special solution. Fifty percent holy water, and fifty percent the blood of the vampire who first bit them."

* * *

 _ **For the first thing, Megumi killing Natsuno was covered up, so that's why Tohru said he killed Natsuno.**_

 _ **Secondly, tell me how Nightmare is developing as the main villain.**_

 ** _And finally, how will Connor obtain the materials to make the remedy for Ritsuko?_**

 ** _Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow._**


	36. Choice

**Chapter 34: Choice**

Tatsumi was strolling to Natsuno's house, like it was nobody's business. When he rang the doorbell, Mr. Yuuki charged out and stabbed him with a butcher knife; the man was deep in a well of grief driven insanity—he actually laughed like a maniac.

"I did it, Natsuno! I killed an okiagari. Don't you see how dependable I am? Atelier Koide is reopening after renovation! There are lots of detailed ideas in the okiagari section! If I get exhausted, I'll become the yolk in a boiled egg! I Can see Azusa's happy face!"

In the middle of Mr. Yuuki's insane nonsensical speaking, Tatsumi took off the pair of sunglasses he was wearing, "Hi!"

Natsuno sighed, "Excused him; I think he's lost it. Can you really blame him?"

"Your mom leaving him without a word, and you coming back after you were supposed to be dead—I get it!" Tatsumi pulled the knife out of his side like it was nothing, "Hey pops, may I come in?"

Mr. Yuuki stopped speaking and answered, "The showroom has been open since this morning. Please come in."

"Not the most stable of minds, huh?"

"Not even close to describing it."

Later,

Natsuno, "So, what do you want?"

Tatsumi, "I wish you'd told me that you had risen."

"I didn't realize I was obligated to. Then again, it's not exactly as much 'rising' as it is 'transforming.'"

"Well, I suppose that's true. Do you know about 'Jinrou?'"

"That refers to people like you and me, otherwise known as 'daywalkers,' right?"

"You're a smart young man, just as I thought. Jinrou is a subspecies of shiki. Including you, I've only seen four of them. You could say that we're a rare species. Sunako named us Jinrou. In movies, a vampire is often accompanied by a wolfman, right?"

"I wouldn't say we're wolfmen; we don't shapeshift."

Tatsumi squeezed his mug so hard, the handle actually popped out of place, "By the way, regarding Akira Tanaka, one of your _few_ friends...I haven't seen him around much lately. I wonder what happened."

"Beats me. I haven't seen them since...well, you know. Wait, are you implying that I know something?"

Tatsumi got up out of the chair, "Well, might as well tell Megumi..."

"Not you...I want to do it myself, got it?"

"Okay, okay. Sheesh! By the way, Sunako wants you to join us. But, honestly, you look biased about it..."

"On one condition!"

"That was fast! What is it?"

"That Megumi, Tohru, and Ritsuko be restored back to the living."

"Aha! Kid, that's impossible!"

"Actually, Connor has two vials of antidote for the former two, and holy water for the latter. An old trick, apparently."

"Oh, Okay, fine!"

* * *

 **Yamairi:**

Masao was strolling, when Atsushi drove like a maniac down the mountain, almost running him over.

Masao, "W-What was that all about?!"

Inferno, "What is with the undead these days?"

Tira came up, "That's the son of the liquor store owner. Looks like something inside him broke free after he was freed from his dad. I heard that he's happily going around killing people, saying that he gained the privilege to kill."

Abyss, "What the hellfire! Isn't he getting too carried away for a newbie?"

Lower down the mountain,

Yoshie and Tohru were passed by Atsushi, who had Chizuru riding with him.

Yoshie, "Jeez...Chizuru is letting him run loose like a wild animal."

Tohru, "Doesn't Sunako say anything?"

"She's lenient with Chizuru."

"Lenient?"

"They're relationship is special, as if they were a mother and child. And Chizuru is the child. Oh, and Sunako's got a high opinion of you. She's eyeing you for a high position. I want you to come and patrol the okiagari hut in the east mountains with me, although not for that reason."

When they reached their destination—a secluded hut—Tohru was shocked to see who was inside; Ritsuko Kunihiro.

Yoshie, "Good morning! Since I heard some noises, I thought you might have..."

Tohru, "Ritsuko..."

She tried speaking, but nothing came out. Until she figured out the trick. "Y-You guys...rose too?"

"Oh? So you didn't even need us to explain it to you. "

"I was right. I remember what happened to me, at least. I was having intense hyperpnoea, so I looked for a bag in order to treat myself, but I couldn't find one near me. I tried to find one somewhere else, and then I lost consciousness. I must've died after that."

"Sounds likely. If you know what happened, then that simplifies things." Yoshie handed Tohru a bag of clothes for Ritsuko. "Tohru, teach her the absolute basics and feed her."

"Me?"

"I have a feeling that some others will rise tonight too, so I'll leave things here to you." Then, Yoshie teased him, "Don't peak on her while she changes. I'm counting on you."

After Yoshie closed the door, Tohru kept facing the wall, and handed the bag to Ritsuko. "A-Anyway, go ahead and change into these clothes. I'll be outside."

She politely rejected, much to Tohru's surprise. "I don't need them. I'm dead, so burial clothes are enough. I don't need any food either, since I don't want to kill anyone."

"Everyone says that at first, but they give in to starvation and attack. It really is a severe starvation."

"My mother must be dead by now. The last time I saw her, she lost a lot of her blood from a massive wound from a blade. That same time, my sister, Midori, was taken. For the time being, I'll try and see if I can resist, since I don't want to hate myself. Don't I have that freedom of choice?"

* * *

 **Days later:**

It was the day of the Kagura dance festival. **Nightmare** was ready to unleash himself.

"It is time! Time to wage war!"

* * *

 **Ozaki Clinic:**

Dr. Ozaki was treating himself from Chizuru's bite. He couldn't help but writhe in pain.

Later,

Chizuru was handed a form by Ozaki.

"This is perfect. Thank you. It must've been a lot of work rewriting this many charts."

"Not really. When I tried to do things by following your instructions, I was able to proceed as if I was possessed."

"Sunako will be happy when she sees these too. She's lenient to those who're useful."

"I'll try to be useful to the utmost so she'll keep me alive."

"Is there a festival going on?"

"Yeah. It's the November Kagura Dance."

"I can't wait until all the villagers are shiki. When that happens, I'll really be able to walk around freely. I'll go shopping. I'll stand around and chat with my friends, too. It's like playing house, isn't it?"

"Is that what you guys want?"

"Well, we want a safe home, a safe place where we don't have to hide. Just a little longer. We'll get it done soon."

"Will it go smoothly?"

"Sunako says that the final stage is difficult, but now that we've come this far, it's as good as success, right? You were the biggest threat to us, but you're no longer our enemy, so..."

Ozaki scoffed, "No longer your enemy, huh? Chizuru. Let's go out on a date."

"What? What's with you, Doctor?" She laughed.

"I'm going to die soon. At least let me have some fun before I die. Besides, you're so curious about the Kagura."

"That is true, but...I can't go to a ritual."

"If you don't go near the crucial place, you'll be fine. Besides, by going out in public, you can dispel the villagers' suspicion."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah."

"You're right. This is a festival! It wouldn't be fun to hide."

"Okay, now that that's decided..."

Later,

"It'll be a bit odd for us to be walking around together, right? You were trying to peel the skin of a taro potato, but the knife slipped"

"A taro potato?"

"Yeah. You cut the base of your thumb. I treated you for that injury."

"Th-That's unexpectedly detailed."

"That's what makes it realistic."

She giggled again, "Yeah, you're right. Taro potatoes slip easily. Long ago, I often cut my hand."

"And just how long ago was that?"

She went from cheery to angry, "Don't try to find out a woman's age like that."

Dr. Ozaki couldn't help but laugh, "Were you married? Any children?"

She smiled again, "My husband didn't stay by my side long enough to give me children. He went and died in battle in the south."

"You look happy, as if you're staring at a ring with a huge gem."

"Yeah. That feeling is very close. It's strange...I wonder if I want to go back to being human. I thought I didn't care about things like that anymore. Now, let's go!"

"To show off the bandage?"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm so proud and happy about it. Is that strange?"

At the festival:

Old man Ookawa's wife, Kazuko, was unloading beers from the store when Ozaki introduced her to Chizuru.

"Good evening, Kazuko."

"Good evening."

"G-Good evening."

"This is Chizuru Kirishiki, the mistress at Kanemasa."

"Oh, hello."

"She asked me what this lively music was, so..."

"Oh, we're having a festival today, though it's not like visitors from outside the village would come."

"I've never seen a Kagura dance up close before. Since I grew up in a big city, I didn't have a chance to go to festivals and annual events." She paused for a moment when Kazuko noticed the bandage on her arm. "Oh, you've noticed? A taro potato slipped from my hand."

Kazuko couldn't help but find it so relatable that it was funny. "Oh, that often happens to me, too."

"Maybe I'm a careless person by nature. I injure myself so often that my daughter says you can't tell if I'm cooking or being cooked."

"Oh my!"

Later,

"How easy it is! Their faces all said, 'Oh, what were we worked up about?'" Chizuru stopped; they were right across from the center of the festival—the religious part.

"Do you wanna go?"

"I want to go, but I can't. I'm really scared. I already fee weak in the knees."

"Would that actually harm you?"

"I don't think it would, but..."

"If you're scared, then hold my hand."

The fear was replaced with confusion. "Isn't this scandalous in a way?"

"Who cares."

"Then just as far as I can go...But don't force me."

"I know. Besides, I can't disobey your orders."

"Oh yes, you're right."

Almost inside, Munehide greeted them. "Oh, Doctor. And you are the Mrs. Kirishiki, right?"

"That's right. She said she'd never seen a Kagura dance, so...Bit it seems that she isn't feeling well. Would you like to go back?"

The sight of so many religious things was getting to Chizuru, however she refused to yield. "I-I'm okay. Just a little longer."

"Okay. Munehide, it's very crowded here. If you don't mind, could you walk with us and become a shield for her from that side?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

Many of the individuals there turned.

Munetaka, "Junior Doctor!"

Takeo Shimizu—Megumi's father, "He's with that Kanemasa woman..."

Everyone gathered around them, Chizuru was getting closer and closer to breaking. Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

Ozaki, "What's the matter?"

"I-I'm going home!"

"Wait!"

"I don't feel well."

"It'll actually be more work going back. You're sweating a lot! Rest at the shrine office a bit."

That made her start to freak out. "No, I'm going home! This is an order!"

"Okay. Then...Mr. Shimizu, please give me a hand."

"What's the matter?"

"She says she doesn't feel well, so I want to bring her to the shrine office."

The word "Shrine" made her freak out every time it was said.

"Sure. Now, ma'am..."

"What're you doi..."

When Takeo touched her, something was very wrong. "What the?! She's very cold!"

"Doctor, I said I'm going home!"

"Her body temperature decreased, so she's having symptoms of bradycardia. Please hurry."

"Okay!"

Chizuru finally snapped, "Hey, what's wrong? Can't you hear me?! I'm talking to you!" When she freed herself, the doctor's sleeve fell, revealing a second, older bite mark. He grinned at her in a rather disturbing manner, much to her shock. "No!"

Munehide, "D-Doctor! What happened to her?"

Ozaki's simple response, "It looks like she's scared of the shrine or something."

Takeo noticed something else. "The scent of this woman...In the days from the time Megumi collapsed and until she died, there was the lingering scent of an adult perfume for some reason. This is that scent."

Chizuru fell to the ground.

"Don't let her escape. She's an Okiagari. She's the one who killed your daughter."

Takeo's rage broke out. He actually pulled her backwards by her hair.

"Shimizu, her neck! Check her pulse! We have to check if we should call an ambulance or not."

Chizuru, "No!"

Takeo was shocked when he touched her neck; _"There's no pulse! She's an okiagari!_ She's the one who killed my daughter! She killed my little Megumi!"

Ookawa, "What nonsense!"

"It's not nonsense! She has no pulse!"

Ookawa touched her hand, and saw for himself. "She certainly has no pulse. And she's as cold as ice."

Megumi's mother, Hiroko, came up. "It can't be!" She put her ear on Chizuru's chest. "I-It's true! I can't hear her heartbeat!"

Everyone there came up to see, and were all shocked. Suddenly, a car came rushing in; Seishirou Kirishiki. The car was stopped by Ookawa, who saw that the driver was his own, late son.

"Atsushi..."

"P-Pops..."

Seishirou pointed a double-barreled shotgun at the old man's face. "Would you make way for us?"

"Atsushi!"

In fear, Atsushi put the vehicle in reverse.

"A-Atsushi, what are you doing?"

"I can't! There's no way I can beat my old man!"

The car was stopped from the back; this time, it was being pushed down—by none other than **Nightmare**. "Weakling!" The knight was using his foot, before using it to kick the car forward. "Tremble in my darkness." He pointed **Soul Edge** at Ookawa, until he spotted Chizuru. "Another useful one!" He made his way to her—the villagers were throwing rocks at her, and one of them hit **Nightmare** in the head, making him turn in anger. He approached the one who threw it, and cleaved the man, diagonally, with **Soul Edge**. "Foolish mortal." He glanced at the other villagers, frightening them, before going back towards Chizuru, grabbing her by her head with his gigantic claw hand, and hitting her head on the floor, incapacitating the shiki, before dragging her off. "You fail to comprehend my power, mortal fools. I will return...to show you...a real NIGHTMARE!"

* * *

 _ **How will Connor explain Soul Edge, Inferno, and Nightmare to the villagers now? And what does Nightmare have planned for Chizuru, and all the other captives? Find out later.**_

 _ **I originally intended on Nightmare coming in when they were about to execute Chizuru, but I had little time to add that.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	37. What the Heart wants

**Chapter 35: What the Heart wants**

 **Abyss** threw Chizuru into a cage, "Play your cards right...You'll live to talk about it...maybe. Ahahahaha! Otherwise..." He turned to Satoko, pulled her out of the cage, and chained her onto a table, face-down.

"Wait...stop...ooff...what're you doing?!" Her clothes were ripped off by a Lizardman, before he started raping her. "Huaaaaahhh! Augh! Aaaaaahhhhh!"

Chizuru, and all the other captives were forced to watch in horror, as they were helpless to do anything about it, until **Abyss** pulled the Lizardman away, and threw the naked woman back into her prison. "This is what will happen to the ladies; having your dignity robbed from you by an animal. The men will be subject to brutality."

* * *

 **Shrine office** **:**

The villagers were in a panic.

"What's going on?!"

"What are they?!"

Connor silenced all of them by slamming his fist into a table, "QUIIIIIEEEEET! Thank you!"

Ozaki started to speak now, "Ahem! Thank you, Connor. Listen up! These things refer to themselves as 'shiki.' And I call them that too. It's the name of the living dead that came from one of Seishin's novels. These shiki are behind almost all the deaths that started in summer and continue now. However, the thing truly responsible was that knight that took Chizuru Kirishiki away. Why he took her, I don't have the slightest clue, but it can't be good."

Masaki, "But, Toshio...these things killed my son. Doesn't that mean that if the knight kills the Kirishiki woman, that he's on our side?"

"And my grandson...?"

"My mother too...?"

"My grandmother as well...?"

"Connor, explain it to them."

"That knight's name is **Nightmare**. He is the personification of the sword he holds; **Soul Edge** , and it's will; the demon, **Inferno**. He has one purpose; to plague the world with evil and chaos. If he kills her, it will only increase his own power."

Hirosawa, "We should call the police!"

"The police?"

Ozaki, "And what are you going to say to the? 'The ever increasing number of vampires is becoming quite a problem for us.'? We'll be laughed out just mentioning the term 'vampire.' Not to mention, if you bring up an 'evil knight,'...It would make for such a nice conversation opener, especially considering none of you believed in the supernatural until tonight!"

"W-Well..."

"We've managed to restore Nao Yasumori. However, it cost us one of three vials of an antidote that Connor made; supplies were limited. Natsuno Yuuki, who's working on the inside, has the other two. We can easily restore the ones who had just risen by feeding them a cocktail of holy water and the blood of the first shiki that bit them, before they taste human blood. Anyone else must go. And then, there's the threat of **Nightmare**. He's almost completed his task of finding the missing pieces of his sword. The last one is in Connor's own sword, **Soul Calibur**. This is the only weapon that can actually harm the demonic knight. However, if he obtains the final shard, he'll become unstoppable."

"I forgot to mention..." Connor interrupted, "I happened to discover **Nightmare** might be expanding his menu of prey; I found both the remains of humans and shiki, all sliced and diced on the spot. Judging by the sheer brutality, this is possibly the most vicious of any incarnation of **Nightmare** there has ever been! He might also be the most powerful. We must tread carefully; if he's also a shiki, he will have all their abilities, and amplify them, but without any of the weaknesses. He might be outside during the day to kill anyone."

* * *

 **Kanemasa:**

Seishin was given a platter by Sunako, but he barely ate anything.

"It's getting cold." Even though Sunako was sucking his blood, she still showed her concern.

"Yes."

Then Tatsumi came in.

"Sunako."

"What is it, Tatsumi!?"

"They got Chizuru."

That got to her, as it meant that the villagers found out. "Tell me everything."

"That doctor, Ozaki did it. He brought Chizuru to the shrine and he may have killed her in front of the villagers. Probably to prove to them that we exist. What do we do? I think we should leave the village."

"We can't do that. Do you think we can leave with this many companions? There's nowhere outside of the village for them to hide."

"You're right."

Seishin realized to himself, _"I see. Toshio managed to alert the villagers."_

"For now, eliminate Ozaki. Remove the leader and the mob will disperse on its own. After that, we can attack the villagers and reduce their numbers. Tell those who go on the attack to go for the jugular."

"Understood."

"Block off the village's contact with the outside world."

"Very well."

As soon as Tatsumi left...

 _"Chizuru...It must have hurt. To be hated, to be rejected..."_

"Sunako."

She turned around, "Perhaps we should have killed your friend."

"You should run away. Toshio will..."

"No! We're almost there. The village is almost dead."

* * *

 **Yamairi:**

Megumi was still in grief over Natsuno being cremated.

That is, until...

"What's wrong, Megumi?" A familiar voice said right behind her. "You seem sad. I don't wanna see that look on your face anymore."

She turned, and saw Natsuno - he was alive.

"Natsuno!"

She rushed up, and embraced him. Tears of joy were pouring out of her eyes.

* * *

 _ **Yes, that just happened; you probably weren't expecting anything like this, especially an actual rape scene. Just want to show how cruel the villains actually are.**_

 _ **There is always a silver lining, though. This one's was the reunion of Natsuno and Megumi.**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	38. Blackout

**Chapter 36: Blackout**

Just when the villagers were getting ready, the power went out; **Abyss** and Tira cut off all the power to the village.

* * *

 **Tanaka Residence:**

Kaori was terrified, as the dark was a big advantage for the shiki—and to a greater extent, **Nightmare**.

* * *

 **Kaori:**

Lights went out. It's a blackout. He's coming. **Nightmare** is coming to kill me.

Megumi, help me...I know that you tried to get me out of here by hypnotizing my father...but now...

 **Nightmare** , you took everything from me...my mother, my father, and my brother.

Now I have the right to take vengeance on you!

* * *

 **Outside:**

Megumi stepped on Love to wake him up. "Wake up, you stupid mongrel!"

Love, "GYA-WOOF!"

* * *

 **Kaori:**

He's here!

I left the back door unlocked on purpose, specially for you.

So, come on in, you ugly monster!

Like a lion tracking it's prey...

* * *

When the figure came in through the door, Kaori sprang out, and beat it in the head. However, it wasn't **Nightmare**..."Father...Father, why?!"

She continued bludgeoning him. "It's so awful! Why are you after me, Dad?! Why, Dad?! You're not my father anymore!"

* * *

 **Yoshikazu:**

Kaori...So even you won't forgive me?

* * *

She finally came to her senses when Megumi came in the front door; She was human again(Though, because of her secret trait as a shiki, she retained immortality, but without the cost). "Megumi...Is that you?" Kaori was in tears.

"Yeah...yeah, it's me." She intentionally gave her friend a shoulder to cry on; she wanted to comfort Kaori.

She took it, and hugged Megumi; she already knew she was restored by looking at her.

However, a huge footstep interrupted their reunion as friends; **Nightmare** had just came out of nowhere, and grabbed Yoshikazu by the neck. "You failed to kill your children. You are now useless to me. But you were always...just...an expendable...pawn." Right after the last word, the vile knight's claw-hand constricted Yoshikazu's neck so tightly, his head popped off the rest of his body, killing him. He turned his attention to the girls after tossing Yoshikazu's headless corpse aside. They were barely able to make it out the door.

* * *

 **Town:**

When they got out of the woods near the "Anti-Shiki base", Kaori fainted. Luckily, Connor came out of the base to find them, and caught Kaori. "It's about time you got here. I need your help, Megumi..."

* * *

 _ **This chapter was short,**_ _ **I know. But it has massive changes from the source material, as you can probably/already tell.**_

 _ **Nightmare claimed Yoshikazu's life(after death).**_

 _ **Megumi's an IMMORTAL human now(Reference to another, older horror anime called "Mermaid Forest." Check it out).**_

 _ **And the one who saved Kaori was Megumi instead of Natsuno.**_

 _ **So, even though it's short, a lot happens.**_

 _ **What will happen next, do you think?**_

 _ **Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.**_


	39. Warfare

**Chapter 37: Warfare**

Everyone was still panicking because of the blackout, so Connor lit a lantern. "Is that better?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Now, listen up; this outage isn't a coincidence—it's definitely something that demons would do at times of war. Believe me, I know from experience. But that doesn't mean we should lose our heads! So get a grip on yourselves!"

Masaki, "So, how do we get rid of them?"

"They have some similar weaknesses to shiki. However, they're far more durable, and more resilient to pain; rather, it seems to please them. They're also far more varied; lesser ones can easily be warded off by holy items, but the stronger ones, like **Nightmare** , require far more drastic measures. As you saw, **Nightmare** was able to enter the shrine with no fear. Therefore, I recommend finding a blade or something."

* * *

 **Yamairi:**

Tohru went to see how Ritsuko was holding up—the day before, Tatsumi had captured Yasuyo to feed her to Ritsuko—but was disappointed to see that she had collapsed, because she didn't even try to suck Yasuyo's blood.

Ritsuko, "Ugh"

Yasuyo heard her, but couldn't see her. "Hey...I can't see who you are, but...judging by that tortured voice, could it be you, Ritsuko?" She approached the starving shiki, and also saw the silhouette of Tohru. "Are you ok?"

"Like hell she can be ok. She's not sucking blood, so She's suffering from gut-wrenching hunger."

This shocked Yasuyo beyond belief. _"Blood?! It can't be!"_ She reached her hand to her former colleague, "Ritsuko..."

The latter snapped at her. "Yasuyo, don't touch me! I'm begging you to stay away from me!"

In shock, Yasuyo quickly moved back to the corner of the cell.

"I don't want to attack you...If I do I'll hate myself...Tohru...I absolutely cannot fall into hating myself for this like you did. As a nurse, I always strived to help people. I took pride in what I did..."

Tohru started violently shaking the cage bars, and yelling, "Attack her! You're feeling hellish hunger right now, aren't you?! Then attack her!" He couldn't hold back his feelings any longer, as tears started pouring out of his eyes. "If you don't, then I will! And I'll kill her before your very eyes! And I'll make you tearfully beg me to finish this woman off quickly!" He stopped, and slid to the floor. "I wish I just died...I want to kill myself...It would've been so much easier, if I could just hate myself just because of these thoughts..."

* * *

 **Kanemasa:**

Tatsumi walked into where Seishin was, after telling Seishirou that the villagers killed Chizuru(which was what they believed), and seeing Atsushi marching into the Ozaki Clinic. "You haven't eaten."

"Tatsumi...Where's Toshio?"

"Worried, are you? I don't have anything to tell about him yet. Soon the sun will rise. Can I ask you to take care of Sunako?"

"Me?"

"Sunako falls into a deep sleep at dawn. She cannot be awakened until darkness falls again. The mansion is already surrounded by villagers. When the sun rise, they'll probably break through the walls. I want you to hide with Sunako in the cellars. I must leave."

Seishin was weakening because of Sunako sucking his blood. "I..."

"I'm not asking you to influence the villagers. Just make sure nothing untoward happens to Sunako. Keep her out of danger, if you can."

"I think I can promise you that. I'm not sure if I can physically handle it, though."

"I'll set up an IV drip for you. That should improve things."

"Thank you."

Tatsumi was surprised for a moment. "You're a strange one."

"I suppose I am."

"I have one more favor to ask."

"What is it?"

"A Jinrou can't manifest his true power without drinking blood."

With a smile on his face, Seishin pulled up his sleeve. "Go ahead."

* * *

 **Base:**

Ookawa approached Ozaki. "Doctor, it's nearly dawn."

"All right. Let's get started."

* * *

All around the village, people were smashing windows to find out where shiki were hiding.

Connor, "Uh, don't you think this is a bit barbaric?!" He had to raise his voice over the yelling men.

Ozaki, "Yeah, it seems like it!"

They went into Kanemasa; the room where Seishin was in at one point.

Ookawa, "No one here, either..."

Then, Ookawa smashed the window in the room with a giant wooden hammer, much to Ozaki's shock. "Ookawa!"

Connor, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"If we do this, even if they somehow flee here, they won't be able to use it!"

Then, gunshots downstairs.

Connor, "Ozaki!"

"We'd better check it out!"

It was a massacre to say the least—and the one responsible was the man in the center of the room, Cervantes de Leon. "Ah, the Junior Doctor!"

"So, you're Cervantes, aren't you?"

"The one and only." The pirate gave a sadistic smile while pointing his gun sword at Ozaki and Connor.

Connor, "This man is extremely dangerous! He's a skilled swordsman, and a sharpshooter at the same time! Plus, he's also an undead entity, like a shiki; only, without the weakness to sunlight."

"Well..." Cervantes lifted his weapon away. "This has certainly been fun, but I have some more important things to attend to. So, Adios!" The buccaneer burst into flames and disappeared.

* * *

 **Nightmare's Lair:**

 **Abyss** dragged Yuki out of her cage, and chained her to the same place that Satoko was when she was raped as an example to Chizuru. Obviously, Yuki was subject to the same fate, as an example to Motoko Maeda, whose children were amongst the captives. "Now, watch closely, and let it burn onto your memory!"

A Lizardman approached Yuki from behind, tore off all her clothes, and began raping her. "AAAAAAAHHHH! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

* * *

 ** _Yeah, another rape scene; at the end this time. Satoko and Yuki are alive, but they've obviously had their pride torn from them. Not to mention, Cervantes appears again._**

 ** _Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow._**


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